There are more than a few major literary prizes — the Pulitzer, the Man Booker, the National Book Awards, the National Book Critics Circle Award — but they’re nowhere near as lucrative as Yale’s Windham-Campbell prize, which, at $150,000, is for sure a “prize.”
The Windham-Campbell was established in 2013 by novelist Donald Windham in memory of his long-time partner, Sandy M. Campbell. The only real criterion is that the authors write in English. This year, there were nine recipients of the prize.
Drama: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (United States) Hannah Moscovitch (Canada) Abbie Spallen (Ireland)
Fiction: Tessa Hadley (United Kingdom) C.E. Morgan (United States) Jerry Pinto (India)
Nonfiction: Hilton Als (United States) Stanley Crouch (United States) Helen Garner (Australia)
Hilton Als, author of White Girls, told Yale, “Essay writing is generally not known as a lucrative field; this honor allows me to continue the work I love with greater confidence — and faith.” Truly, $150,000 for an essayist is a huge deal.