The Hawthornden Prize, the oldest literary prize in Britain, was founded in 1919 by Alice Warrender in commemoration of the Scottish poet William Drummond of Hawthornden. Administered by the Hawthornden Trust, and sponsored by Drue Heinz, the prize of £10,000 is awarded to "the best work of imaginative literature published in the preceding year". The term "imaginative literature" has in the past been interpretated by the judges in an extremely broad and liberal fashion as the past winners include works of non-fiction as well as fiction.

Winners of the Hawthornden Prize

No award was made for the years 1945 to 1957

No award was made in 1959

No award was made in 1966

No award was made for the years 1971 to 1973

No award was made for the years 1984 to 1987

References

http://home.comcast.net/~dwtaylor1/hawthornden.html
http://www.booktrust.org.uk/info/prizes.php?action=3&przid=68