2010: Of Mutability by Jo Shapcott

2009: A Scattering by Christopher Reid

2008: The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry

2007: Day by A L Kennedy

2006: The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney

2005: Matisse the Master by Hilary Spurling Hamish Hamilton

2004: Small Island Andrea Levy Headline

2003: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

2002: Samuel Pepys The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin

2001: The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

2000: English Passengers by Matthew Kneale

1999: Beowulf by Seamus Heaney

1998: Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes

1997: Tales from Ovid by Ted Hughes

1996: The Spirit Level by Seamus Heaney

1995: Behind the Scenes at the Museum by Kate Atkinson

1994: Felicia’s Journey by William Trevor

1993: Theory of War Joan Brady

1992: Swing Hammer Swing Jeff Torrington

1991: A Life Of Picasso by John Richardson

1990: Hopeful Monsters by Nicholas Mosley

1989: Coleridge: Early Visions by Richard Holmes

1988: The Comforts of Madnes by Paul Sayer

1987: Under The Eye Of The Clock by Christopher Nolan

1986: An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro

1985: Elegies by Douglas Dunn

1984: A Parish of Rich Women by James Buchan

1983: Flying to Nowhere by John Fuller

1982: On the Black Hill by Bruce Chatwin

1981: A Good Man in Africa by William Boyd

1980: and How Far Can You Go? by David Lodge

1979: The Old Jest by Jennifer Johnston

1978: Picture Palace by Paul Theroux

1977: Injury Time by Beryl Bainbridge

1975: Docherty by William McIlvanney

1974: The Sacred & Profane Love Machine by Iris Murdoch

1973: The Chip Chip Gatherers by Shiva Naipaul

1972: The Bird of Night by Susan Hill

1971: The Destiny Waltz by Gerda Charles