This unique prize is awarded every year to a writer who has excelled in the sphere of biography and/or memoir. The prize celebrates biographers and life writers who have published original, thought-provoking, genre-changing books. The list of past winners is a roll-call of the leaders in the field of biography and autobiography. People do not apply for this prize; a winner is chosen each year by the committee members of the Biographers’ Club.
The award of the Exceptional Contribution prize usually takes place at the end of January, and it forms the focus of a Biographers’ Club event. Last year’s event was a terrific conversation between the winner Matthew Parris and BBC4 journalist and presenter of PM Evan Davies.
Past Winners
2023// Anne de Courcy
2022// AN Wilson
2021// Matthew Parris
2020 // Ann Wroe
2019 // Alexander Masters
2018 // Hermione Lee
2017 // Jenny Uglow
2016 // Hilary Spurling
2015 // John Julius Norwich
2014 // Richard Holmes
2013// Antonia Fraser
2012 // Claire Tomalin
2011 // Selina Hastings
2010 // Philip Ziegler
2009 // Michael Holroyd