Read The Modern Library Online
Authors: Colm Tóibín,Carmen Callil
Author must be a citizen of the Commonwealth, Pakistan, or the Republic of Ireland. No short stories or novellas. No English translation. Formerly named the Booker McConnell Prize.
| 1969 | Something to Answer For P. H. Newby |
| 1970 | The Elected Member Bernice Rubens |
| 1971 | In a Free State V. S. Naipaul |
| 1972 | G John Berger |
| 1973 | The Siege of Krishnapur J. G. Farrell |
| 1974 | The Conservationist Nadine Gordimer Holiday Stanley Middleton |
| 1975 | Heat and Dust Ruth Prawer Jhabvala |
| 1976 | Saville David Storey |
| 1977 | Staying On Paul Scott |
| 1978 | The Sea, the Sea Iris Murdoch |
| 1979 | Offshore Penelope Fitzgerald |
| 1980 | Rites of Passage William Golding |
| 1981 | Midnight’s Children Salman Rushdie |
| 1982 | Schindler’s Ark Thomas Keneally (US: Schindler’s List ) |
| 1983 | Life and Times of Michael K J. M. Coetzee |
| 1984 | Hôtel du Lac Anita Brookner |
| 1985 | The Bone People Keri Hulme |
| 1986 | The Old Devils Kingsley Amis |
| 1987 | Moon Tiger Penelope Lively |
| 1988 | Oscar and Lucinda Peter Carey |
| 1989 | The Remains of the Day Kazuo Ishiguro |
| 1990 | Possession A. S. Byatt |
| 1991 | The Famished Road Ben Okri |
| 1992 | The English Patient Michael Ondaatje Sacred Hunger Barry Unsworth |
| 1993 | Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha Roddy Doyle |
| 1994 | How Late It Was, How Late James Kelman |
| 1995 | The Ghost Road Pat Barker |
| 1996 | Last Orders Graham Swift |
| 1997 | The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy |
| 1998 | Amsterdam Ian McEwan |
| 1999 | Disgrace J. M. Coetzee |
| 2000 | The Blind Assassin Margaret Atwood |
| 2001 | True History of the Kelly Gang Peter Carey |
| 2002 | Life of Pi Yann Martel |
| 2003 | Vernon God Little D. B. C. Pierre |
| 2004 | The Line of Beauty Alan Hollinghurst |
| 2005 | The Sea John Banville |
| 2006 | The Inheritance of Loss Kiran Desai |
| 2007 | The Gathering Anne Enright |
| 2008 | The White Tiger Aravind Adiga |
| 2009 | Wolf Hall Hilary Mantel |
| 2010 | The Finkler Question Howard Jacobson |
Authors must be of South African birth or registered permanent residents of South Africa. Books entered for the award must be published in a South African edition. Any original work written in any of the indigenous or official languages of South Africa is eligible for consideration.
| 1961 | The Desert Place Siegfried Stander |
| 1962 | The Bull from the Sea Mary Renault |
| 1963 | The Seed and the Sower Laurens van der Post |
| 1964 | Hofmeyr Alan Paton |
| 1965 | British Supremacy in South Africa 1899–1907 G. H. le May |
| 1966 | No Ordinary Woman Thelma Gutsche |
| 1967 | The Hunter and the Whale Laurens van der Post |
| 1968 | The Horse Thief Siegfried Stander |
| 1969 | No award |
| 1970 | The Stone Fish John McIntosh |
| 1971 | The Rain-Maker Jack Cope |
| 1972 | The Castaways Sheila Fugard |
| 1973 | Apartheid and the Archbishop Alan Paton |
| 1974 | The Conservationist Nadine Gordimer |
| 1975 | Selected Poems Guy Butler |
| 1976 | Border Anthony Delius |
| 1977 | In the Heart of the Country J. M. Coetzee |
| 1978 | Rumours of Rain André Brink |
| 1979 | Burger’s Daughter Nadine Gordimer |
| 1980 | Waiting for the Barbarians J. M. Coetzee |
| 1981 | July’s People Nadine Gordimer |
| 1982 | A Chain of Voices André Brink |
| 1983 | Life and Times of Michael K J. M. Coetzee |
| 1984 | Selected Poems Douglas Livingstone |
| 1985 | Call Me Woman Ellen Kuzwayo |
| 1986 | The Twenty-Ninth Parallel David Robbins |
| 1987 | Phoebe and Nio E. M. Macphail |
| 1988 | White Boy Running Christopher Hope |
| 1989 | Memory of Snow and of Dust Breyten Breytenbach |
| 1990 | My Son’s Story Nadine Gordimer |
| 1991 | The Beautiful Screaming of Pigs Damon Galut |
| 1992 | Tramp Royal Tim Couzens |
| 1993 | The Folly Ivan Vladislavic |
| 1994 | Long Walk to Freedom Nelson Mandela |
| 1995 | Other Places Sarah Ruden (Creative Literature) |
| 1995 | The Calling of Katie Makanya Margaret McCord (Non-fiction) |
Any work of prose fiction first published in year prior to the award. Author must be a member of a Commonwealth country.
| 1987 | Summer Lightning Olive Senior |
| 1988 | Heroes Festus Iyayi |
| 1989 | The Carpathians Janet Frame Women of Influence Bonnie Burnard |
| 1990 | Solomon Gursky Mordecai Richler Visitors John Cranna |
| 1991 | The Great World David Malouf Shape-Shifter Pauline Melville |
| 1992 | Such a Long Journey Rohinton Mistry Divina Trace Robert Antoni |
| 1993 | The Ancestor Game Alex Miller The Thousand Faces of the Night Githa Hariharan |
| 1994 | A Suitable Boy Vikram Seth The Case of Emily V . Keith Oatley |
| 1995 | Captain Corelli’s Mandolin Louis de Bernières Seasonal Adjustments Adib Khan |
| 1996 | A Fine Balance Rohinton Mistry Red Earth and Pouring Rain Vikram Chandra |
| 1997 | Salt Earl Lovelace Fall on Your Knees Ann-Marie MacDonald |
| 1998 | Jack Maggs Peter Carey Angel Falls Tim Wynveen |
| 1999 | Eucalyptus Murray Bail The Electrical Field Kerri Sakamoto |
| 2000 | Disgrace J. M. Coetzee Prisoner in a Red-Rose Chain Jeffrey Moore |
| 2001 | True History of the Kelly Gang Peter Carey White Teeth Zadie Smith |
| 2002 | Gould’s Book of Fish Richard Flanagan Ama, A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade Manu Herbstein |
| 2003 | The Polished Hoe Austin Clarke Haweswater Sarah Hall |
| 2004 | The Distant Shore Caryl Phillips The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time Mark Haddon |
| 2005 | Small Island Andrea Levy Purple Hibiscus Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie |
| 2006 | The Secret River Kate Grenville Suspended Sentences: Fictions of Atonement Mark MacWatt |
| 2007 | Mister Pip Lloyd Jones Vandal Love D. Y. Bechard |
| 2008 | The Book of Negroes Lawrence Hill A Golden Age Tahmima Anam |
| 2009 | The Slap Christos Tsiolkas A Case of Exploding Mangoes Mohammed Hanif |
| 2010 | Solo Rana Dasgupta Siddon Rock Glenda Guest |
Selected by the Canada Council and given for outstanding Englishand French-language works.
| 1950 | The Outlander (translation) Germaine Guevremont |
| 1951 | The Loved and the Lost Morley Callaghan |
| 1952 | The Pillar David Walker |
| 1953 | Digby David Walker |
| 1954 | The Fall of a Titan Igor Gouzenko |
| 1955 | The Sixth of June Lionel Shapiro |
| 1956 | The Sacrifice Adele Wiseman |
| 1957 | Street of Riches (translation) Gabrielle Roy |
| 1958 | Execution Colin McDougall |
| 1959 | The Watch that Ends the Night Hugh MacLennan |
| 1960 | The Luck of Ginger Coffey Brian Moore |
| 1961 | Hear Us O Lord from Heaven Thy Dwelling Place Malcolm Lowry |
| 1962 | Running to Paradise Kildare Dobbs |
| 1963 | Hugh Garner’s Best Stories Hugh Garner |
| 1964 | The Deserter Douglas LePan |
| 1965 | No selection |
| 1966 | A Jest of God Margaret Laurence |
| 1967 | No selection |
| 1968 | Dance of the Happy Shades Alice Munro |
| 1969 | The Studhorse Man Robert Kroetsch |
| 1970 | The New Ancestors Dave Godfrey |
| 1971 | St Urbain’s Horseman Mordecai Richler |
| 1972 | The Manticore Robertson Davies |
| 1973 | The Temptations of Big Bear Rudy Wiebe |
| 1974 | The Diviners Margaret Laurence |
| 1975 | The Great Victorian Collection Brian Moore |
| 1976 | Bear Marian Engel |
| 1977 | The Wars Timothy Findley |
| 1978 | Who Do You Think You Are? Alice Munro |
| 1979 | The Resurrection of Joseph Bourne Jack Hodgins |
| 1980 | Burning Water George Bowering |
| 1981 | Home Truths: Selected Canadian Stories Mavis Gallant |
| 1982 | Man Descending Guy Vanderhaeghe |
| 1983 | Shakespeare’s Dog Leon Rooke |
| 1984 | The Engineer of Human Souls Josef Skvorecky |
| 1985 | The Handmaid’s Tale Margaret Atwood |
| 1986 | The Progress of Love Alice Munro |
| 1987 | A Dream Like Mine M. T. Kelly |
| 1988 | Nights Below Station Street David Adams Richards |
| 1989 | Whale Music Paul Quarrington |
| 1990 | Lives of the Saints Nino Ricci |
| 1991 | Such a Long Journey Rohinton Mistry |
| 1992 | The English Patient Michael Ondaatje |
| 1993 | The Stone Diaries Carol Shields |
| 1994 | A Discovery of Strangers Rudy Wiebe |
| 1995 | The Roaring Girl Greg Hollingshead |
| 1996 | The Englishman’s Boy Guy Vanderhaeghe |
| 1997 | The Underpainter Jane Urquhart |
| 1998 | Forms of Devotion Diane Schoemperlen |
| 1999 | Elizabeth and After Matt Cohen |
| 2000 | Anil’s Ghost Michael Ondaatje |
| 2001 | Clara Callan Richard B. Wright |
| 2002 | A Song for Nettie Johnson Gloria Sawai |
| 2003 | Elle Douglas Glover |
| 2004 | A Complicated Kindness Miriam Toews |
| 2005 | A Perfect Night to Go to China David Gilmour |
| 2006 | The Law of Dreams Peter Behrens |
| 2007 | Divisadero Michael Ondaatje |
| 2008 | The Origin of Species Nino Ricci |
| 2009 | The Mistress of Nothing Kate Pullinger |
| 2010 | Cool Water Dianne Warren |