Entries Open for the World’s Oldest & Most Valuable Sports-Writing Prize

Entries are now open for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award 2023. Authors, journalists, athletes and publishers are invited to submit their work for the world’s most valuable literary sports-writing prize which has a winner’s cash prize of £30,000.

The William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award launched in 1989 and is dedicated to rewarding excellence in sports writing. Now in its 35^th year, it is the world’s longest established sports-writing competition.

Last year saw a record breaking 158 books entered by athletes and authors alike including Patrice Evra, Anyika Onuora and Claire Shine. Jeremy Wilson was crowned winner with judges praising his book ‘Beryl: In Search of Britain’s Greatest Athlete’ for its exhaustive research and superb writing.

Organisers are encouraging authors, journalists, athletes and publishers to submit their books as early as possible so that the reading panel have as much time as possible to consider each entry. Last year, many of the longlisted books, including the eventual winner, were early submissions.

Following a rigorous judging process from a panel including journalists, authors, sportspeople and industry leaders, the longlist will be announced in September 2023, with the shortlist unveiled in October.

The overall winner will be revealed on 30^th November 2023 at an official awards ceremony held at BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London. As well as the winning prize, all shortlisted authors will each receive £3,000 and a leather-bound copy of their book.

Book review panellist and renowned sports broadcaster, Matt Williams said: “The William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award is the most respected prize in the industry, and it is an honour to have the chance of reading every single book entered.

“Once again, we’re encouraging all authors, agents and publishers to enter their titles as early as possible as the process to find our next champion begins as soon as we receive our first entry. All the books are read by humans, not algorithms and therefore we urge writers to submit their book before the rush begins in the summer.”

“For more than three decades, the Award has played a leading role in championing excellence in the sporting literacy world, providing authors with a platform to showcase and promote their books – and following a stellar year of entries in 2022, we’re incredibly excited for this year’s competition.

“We’re keen to see the exceptional creative minds and writing talents across a diverse range of subjects, so no matter what the sport, whether it’s football, cricket or surfing, if you’ve published or scheduled a book for publication from 2^nd September 2022 – 1^st September 2023, we want to hear about it.

“It’s not all about whether the book is a best-seller, it’s the writing we’re interested in – and our ultimate winner will always be an over-achieving, richly deserving sporting literature champion.”