The Bermuda Literary Awards were inaugurated by the Bermuda Government in 1999 to honour literary achievement by Bermuda’s writers, and are administered by the Department of Culture. The aims of the Bermuda Government in offering these awards are:
- To recognize significant contributions to the development of Bermudian culture
- To honour creative works and uphold the writer’s role in society
- To preserve and promote the highest standards of Bermudian literature
A call for nominations is issued once every five to six years; publications can be nominated by authors, publishers, members of the public, and by the judges of the Literary Awards. Eligibility for each prize is outlined in the call for nominations. The last Bermuda Literary Awards was in 2023, the next will be in 2028 or 2029.
Find the rules for the 2023 awards (PDF) and the 2023 nomination form (PDF).
The Department of Culture Salutes the Previous Winners of the Bermuda Literary Awards Competition:
Brian Burland Prize for Fiction
- The Drowned Forest by Angela Barry (2023)
- Fried White Grunts by F. Colin Duerden (2018)
- Goree: Point of Departure by Angela Barry (2013)
- Endangered Species and Other Stories by Angela Barry (2007)
- A Ballad of Orange Valley by Rawle Frederick (2007)
- That Was Then by Patrice Frith Hayward (2001)
Dr. Eva Hodgson Prize for Non-Fiction
- Pauulu’s Diaspora: Black Internationalism and Environmental Justice by Quito Swan (2023)
- Island Flames by Jonathan D. Smith (2018)
- Bermuda and the Struggle for Reform by Walton Brown, Jr. (2013)
- Bermuda: Five Centuries by Rosemary Jones (2007)
- Nothin’ but a Pond Dog by Llewellyn Emery (2001)
Cecile N. Musson Prize for Poetry
- The Tipping Line by Paul Maddern (2023)
- Honorable Mention for: Turtlemen by Andra Simons (2023)
- Pilgrimage by Paul Maddern (2018)
- The Beachcomber’s Report by Paul Maddern (2013)
- Zephyrs by Cecile Musson Smith (2001)
Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Fiction
- A Dark Iris by Elizabeth J Jones (2023)
- Girlcott by Florenz Webbe Maxwell (2018)
- The Lost Island of Tamarind by Nadia Aguiar (2013)
- Daddy and I Explore… Series by David Chapman (2013)
- Nonsuch Summer by Janet Wingate (2007)
- St. Nicholas and the Tub by Brian Burland (2001)
Prize for Drama and Screenwriting
- Journey of the Shaman by Lucinda Spurling (2023)
- Me and Jezebel by Lucinda Spurling (2018)
- Emancipation: A Love Story by Kim Dismont Robinson (2013)
- Island Sistahs by Patrice Frith Hayward (2001)
Prize for Cultural Merit
- Bermuda in Painted Representation by Jonathan Land Evans (2023)
- Pembroke as part of “Bermuda’s Architectural Heritage Series” by Clarence V.H. Maxwell (2018)
Founder’s Award- offered for books or scripts published prior to the establishment of the Bermuda Literary Awards in 1999
- The History of Mary Prince by Mary Prince (2023)
- Chained on the Rock by Cyril Outerbridge Packwood (2018)
- Brian Burland, body of work (2001)
