All prizes are annual and were awarded in 2003 unless otherwise stated. Currency equivalents as of July 1, 2003, were as follows: €1 = $1.158; £1 = $1.663; Can$1 = $0.741; ¥1 = $0.008; SKr 1 = $0.126; and DKr 1 = $0.156.

Nobel Prize for Literature

Awarded since 1901; included in the behest of Alfred Nobel, who specified a prize for those who "shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction." The prizewinners are selected in October by the Swedish Academy and receive the award on December 10 in Stockholm. Prize: a gold medal and an award that varies from year to year; in 2003 the award was SKr 10,000,000.

J.M. Coetzee (South Africa)

International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

First awarded in 1996, this is the largest international literary prize; it is open to books written in any language. The award is a joint initiative of Dublin City Council, the Municipal Government of Dublin City, and the productivity-improvement company IMPAC. It is administered by Dublin City Public Libraries. Prize: €100,000, of which 25% goes to the translator if the book was not written in English, and a Waterford crystal trophy. The awards are given at Dublin Castle in May or June.

My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, translated from the Turkish by Erdag Göknar

Neustadt International Prize for Literature

Established in 1969 and awarded biennially by the University of Oklahoma and World Literature Today. Novelists, poets, and dramatists are equally eligible. Prize: $50,000, a replica of an eagle feather cast in silver, and a certificate.

Álvaro Mutis (Colombia), awarded in 2002

Commonwealth Writers Prize

Established in 1987 by the Commonwealth Foundation. In 2003 there was one award of £10,000 for the best book submitted and an award of £3,000 for the best first book. In each of the four regions of the Commonwealth, two prizes of £1,000 are awarded: one for the best book and one for the best first book.

Best Book The Polished Hoe by Austin Clarke (Canada)

Best First Book Haweswater by Sarah Hall (U.K.)

Regional winners--Best Book

Africa The Other Side of Silence by André Brink (South Africa)

Caribbean & Canada The Polished Hoe by Austin Clarke (Canada)

Eurasia Spies by Michael Frayn (U.K.)

Southeast Asia & South Pacific Of a Boy (U.S. title, What the Birds See) by Sonya Hartnett (Australia)

Booker Prize

Established in 1969, sponsored by Booker McConnell Ltd. and, beginning in 2002, the Man Group; administered by the National Book League in the U.K. Awarded to the best full-length novel written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland and published in the U.K. during the 12 months ending September 30. Prize: £50,000.

Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre (Australian-born Irish)

Whitbread Book of the Year

Established in 1971. The winners of the Whitbread Book Awards for Poetry, Biography, Novel, and First Novel as well as the Whitbread Children's Book of the Year each receive £5,000, and the winner of the Whitbread Book of the Year prize receives an additional £25,000. Winners are announced in January of the year following the award.

Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self by Claire Tomalin (2002 award)

Orange Prize for Fiction

Established in 1996. Awarded to a work of published fiction written by a woman in English and published in the U.K. during the 12 months ending March 31. Prize: £30,000.

Property by Valerie Martin (U.S.)

PEN/Faulkner Award

The PEN/Faulkner Foundation each year recognizes the best published works of fiction by contemporary American writers. Named for William Faulkner, the PEN/Faulkner Award was founded by writers in 1980 to honour their peers and is now the largest juried award for fiction in the U.S. Prize: $15,000.

The Caprices by Sabina Murray

Pulitzer Prizes in Letters and Drama

Begun in 1917, awarded by Columbia University, New York City, on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board for books published in the previous year. Five categories in Letters are honoured: Fiction, Biography, and General Non-Fiction (authors of works in these categories must be American citizens); History (the subject must be American history); and Poetry (for original verse by an American author). The Drama prize is for "a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life." Prize: $10,000 in each category.

Fiction Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

Biography Master of the Senate by Robert A. Caro

Poetry Moy Sand & Gravel by Paul Muldoon

History An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 by Rick Atkinson

General Non-Fiction "A Problem from Hell": America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power

Drama Anna in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz

National Book Awards

Awarded since 1950 by the National Book Foundation, a consortium of American publishing groups. Categories have varied, beginning with three--Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry--swelling to 22 awards in 1983, and returning to four (the initial three plus Young People's Literature) in 2001. Prize: $10,000 and a crystal sculpture.

Fiction The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard

Nonfiction Waiting for Snow in Havana by Carlos Eire

Poetry The Singing by C.K. Williams

Frost Medal

Awarded annually since 1930 by the Poetry Society of America for distinguished lifetime service to American poetry.

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

Governor General's Literary Awards

Canada's premier literary awards. Prizes are given in 14 categories altogether: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Translation, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature (Text and Illustration), each in English and French. Established in 1937. Prize: Can$15,000.

Fiction (English) Elle by Douglas Glover

Fiction (French) La Maison étrangère by Élise Turcotte

Poetry (English) Kill-Site by Tim Lilburn

Poetry (French) Lignes aériennes by Pierre Nepveu

Griffin Poetry Prize

Established in 2001 and administered by the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry, the award honours first-edition books of poetry published during the preceding year. Prize: Can$40,000 each for the two awards.

Canadian Award Concrete and Wild Carrot by Margaret Avison

International Award Moy Sand and Gravel by Paul Muldoon (Northern Ireland)

Büchner Prize

Georg-Büchner-Preis. Awarded for a body of literary work in the German language. First awarded in 1923; now administered by the German Academy for Language and Literature. Prize: €40,000.

Alexander Kluge (Germany)

Hooft Prize

P.C. Hooftprijs. The Dutch national prize for literature, established in 1947. Prize: €35,000.

H.H. ter Balkt for poetry

Nordic Council Literary Prize

Established in 1961. Selections are made by a 10-member jury from among original works first published in Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish during the past two years or other Nordic languages (Finnish, Faroese, Sami, etc.) during the past four years. Prize: DKr 350,000.

Revbensstäderna by Eva Ström (Sweden)

Prix Goncourt

Prix de l'Académie Goncourt. First awarded in 1903 from the estate of French literary figure Edmond Huot de Goncourt, to memorialize him and his brother, Jules. Prize: €10.

La Maîtresse de Brecht by Jacques-Pierre Amette

Prix Femina

Established in 1904. The awards for works "of imagination" are announced by an all-women jury in the categories of French fiction, fiction in translation, and nonfiction. Announced in October together with the Prix Médicis. Prize: Not stated (earlier the award was F 5,000 【about $690】).

French Fiction Le Complexe de Di by Dai Sijie

Cervantes Prize for Hispanic Literature

Premio Cervantes. Established in 1976 and awarded for a body of work in the Spanish language. Announced in December and awarded the following April. Prize: €90,000.

Gonzalo Rojas (Chile)

Planeta Prize

Premio Planeta de Novela. Established in 1951 by the Planeta Publishing House for the best unpublished, original novel in Spanish. Awarded in Barcelona in October. Prize: €600,000 and publication by Planeta.

El baile de la Victoria by Antonio Skármeta (Chile)

Camões Prize

Premio Luis da Camões da Literatura. Established in 1988 by the governments of Portugal and Brazil to honour a "representatative" author writing in the Portuguese language. Prize: $100,000.

Rubem Fonseca (Brazil)

Russian Booker Prize

Awarded since 1992, the Russian Booker Prize has sometimes carried the names of various sponsors--e.g., Smirnoff in 1997-2001. In 2002 it was underwritten in part by the Yukos Oil Co. and called the Booker/Open Russia Literary Prize. Awards: $12,500 for the winner; $1,000 for each finalist.

Beloye na chyornom ("White on Black") by Rubén González Gallego

Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature

Established in 1996 and awarded for the best contemporary novel published in Arabic. The winning work is translated into English and published in Cairo, London, and New York. Prize: $1,000 and a silver medal.

Wikalat Atiya ("Atiya's Agency") by Khairi Shalabi

Jun'ichiro Tanizaki Prize

Tanizaki Jun'ichiro Sho. Established in 1965 to honour the memory of novelist Jun'ichiro Tanizaki. Awarded annually to a Japanese author for an exemplary literary work. Prize: ¥1,000,000 and a trophy.

Yoko Tawada for Yogisha no yakoressha ("Suspect on the Night Train")

Ryunosuke Akutagawa Prize

Akutagawa Ryunosuke Sho. Established in 1935 and now sponsored by the Association for the Promotion of Japanese Literature, the prize is awarded in January and June for the best serious work of fiction by a promising new Japanese writer published in a magazine or journal. Prize: ¥1,000,000 and a commemorative gift.

"Shoppai doraibu" ("Salty Drive") by Tamaki Daido

"Hariganemushi" ("The Hairworm") by Man'ichi Yoshimura

Mao Dun Literary Award

Established in 1981 to honour contemporary Chinese novels and named after novelist Shen Yanbing (1896-1981), whose nom de plume was Mao Dun; awarded every five years. Latest awards were announced on Oct. 12, 2000 (the same day as the Nobel Prize for Literature).

Jueze ("Hard Choice") by Zhang Ping

Chang hen ge (2000; "Song of Everlasting Sorrow") by Wang Anyi

Chen'ai luo ding (1999; "When Dust Settles") by Ah Lai

Nanfang you jiamu ("Fine Tree Possessed in the Southland") and Buye zhi hou ("Delightful Marquis to Break Drowsiness"), from Charen sanbuqu ("Trilogy of Tea Men") by Wang Xufeng