Awards

Since our founding in 1999, Salt has been dedicated to the craft of discovery. Over the past twenty-seven years, our commitment to distinctive writing has been recognized by the world’s most prestigious literary prizes – from the Man Booker Prize and the International Dylan Thomas Prize to major awards for crime, poetry, and short fiction.

While we have evolved from a small poetry press in Cambridge to a broad, genre-diversifying trade publisher in North Norfolk, our core mission remains unchanged: to publish books of such quality and integrity that they demand to be noticed.

Below is a selection of the accolades our authors and their works have received.

Major Recognitions

Over the last quarter-century, Salt titles have been recognized by the world’s most prestigious literary prizes.

The Catchers | Xan Brooks

  • Shortlisted | The RSL Ondaatje Prize 2025
  • Longlisted | The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction 2025
  • The Independent | The 20 Best Books of the Year

The Clocks in This House All Tell Different Times | Xan Brooks

  • Shortlisted | The Costa First Novel Award
  • Shortlisted | The Authors' Club Best First Novel Award
  • Longlisted | The Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction
  • Longlisted | The Desmond Elliott Prize
  • Observer | New Faces of Fiction

The Good Son | Paul McVeigh

  • Winner | The Polari First Book Prize
  • Winner | The McCrea Literary Award
  • Shortlisted | The Guardian First Book Award
  • Shortlisted | The Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award

The Lighthouse | Alison Moore

  • Shortlisted | The Man Booker Prize
  • Winner | McKitterick Prize
  • Shortlisted | New Voices Award
  • Shortlisted | Specsavers National Book Awards

The Many | Wyl Menmuir

  • Longlisted | The Man Booker Prize
  • Observer | New Faces of Fiction
  • Winner | Best Novel, Saboteur Awards

The Redemption of Galen Pike | Carys Davies

  • Winner | The Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award
  • Winner | The Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize
  • Shortlisted | Wales Book of the Year (Fiction)

The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales | Kirsty Logan

  • Winner | Polari First Book Prize
  • Winner | Saboteur Award for Best Short Story Collection
  • Shortlisted | The Green Carnation Prize
  • Book of the Year | The Herald

Recent Highlights

Year Title Author Prize Result
2025 Scablands and Other Stories Jonathan Taylor The Arnold Bennett Book Prize Winner
2025 Poppyland D. J. Taylor East Anglian Book Awards Shortlisted
2025 The Marriage Contract Sasha Butler Cosmopolitan Book Awards Joint winner
2024 Forgetting is How We Survive David Frankel Edge Hill Short Story Prize Shortlisted
2023 my name is abilene Elisabeth Sennitt Clough Forward Poetry Prize for Best Collection Shortlisted
2023 Candescent Blooms Andrew Hook British Fantasy Awards Shortlisted
2022 Stewkey Blues D. J. Taylor East Anglian Book Awards Winner
2022 Iron Man Lynne Bryan East Anglian Book Awards Winner
2019 The Litten Path James Clarke The Betty Trask Prize and Awards Winner
2019 The Chameleon Samuel Fisher The Betty Trask Prize and Awards Shortlisted
2019 Gamble Kerry Hadley-Pryce The Encore Award Shortlisted
2019 The Chameleon Samuel Fisher The Collyer Bristow Prize Shortlisted
2019 Good Day? Vesna Main Goldsmiths Prize Shortlisted

A Legacy of Excellence

Year Title Author Prize Result
2018 The Clocks in This House All Tell Different Times Xan Brooks Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award Shortlisted
2017 Bodies of Water V. H. Leslie British Fantasy Awards Shortlisted
2017 The Clocks in This House All Tell Different Times Xan Brooks Costa First Novel Award Shortlisted
2016 The Good Son Paul McVeigh Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award Shortlisted
2016 Melissa Jonathan Taylor The East Midlands Book Awards Shortlisted
2016 The Good Son Paul McVeigh The People’s Book Prize Shortlisted
2016 The Good Son Paul McVeigh Polari First Book Prize Winner
2015 The Redemption of Galen Pike Carys Davies Edge Hill Short Story Prize Shortlisted
2015 The Redemption of Galen Pike Carys Davies Wales Book of the Year: Fiction Shortlisted
2015 The Redemption of Galen Pike Carys Davies Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award Winner
2015 The Redemption of Galen Pike Carys Davies Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize Joint winner
2015 The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales Kirsty Logan Polari First Book Prize Winner
2015 The Good Son Paul McVeigh The Guardian Not the Booker Prize Shortlisted
2014 The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales Kirsty Logan The Saltire Scottish First Book of the Year Award Shortlisted
2014 The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales Kirsty Logan Green Carnation Prize Shortlisted
2014 The Rental Heart and Other Fairytales Kirsty Logan Saboteur Awards: Best Short Story Collection Winner
2014 Little Egypt Lesley Glaister Jerwood Fiction Uncovered Prize Joint winner
2014 The Pre-War House and Other Stories Alison Moore The East Midlands Book Awards Shortlisted
2014 Posthumous Stories David Rose Edge Hill Short Story Prize Shortlisted
2014 Bones & Breath Alexander Hutchison The Saltire Scottish Poetry Book of the Year Award Winner
2014 Bookside Down Joanne Limburg CLPE Poetry Awards Shortlisted
2014 Posthumous Stories David Rose Saboteur Awards: Best Short Story Collection Shortlisted
2014 The Ophelia Letters Rebecca Tamás Saboteur Awards: Best Poetry Pamphlet Shortlisted
2014 The Brand New Dark Mark Waldron Next Generation Poets Winner
2013 Magda Meike Ziervogel Not the Booker Prize Shortlisted
2013 The Lighthouse Alison Moore East Midlands Book Awards Shortlisted
2013 Entertaining Strangers Jonathan Taylor The East Midlands Book Awards Shortlisted
2013 Sins of the Leopard James Brookes Dylan Thomas Prize Shortlisted
2013 In the Land of the Giants George Szirtes CLPE Poetry Awards Winner
2013 The Lighthouse Alison Moore The McKitterick Prize Winner
2013 The Glass Delusion Abi Curtis The Somerset Maugham Awards Joint winner
2013 All the Bananas I’ve Never Eaten Tony Williams Saboteur Awards: Best Short Story Collection Winner
2013 Overheard Jonathan Taylor Saboteur Awards: Best Fiction Anthology Winner
2013 Sins of the Leopard James Brookes The Michael Murphy Memorial Prize Shortlisted
2013 A Girl’s Arm Gee Williams Wales Book of the Year: Fiction Shortlisted
2013 Antler John Clegg The Eric Gregory Trust Fund Awards Winner
2012 The Knife Drawer Padrika Tarrant Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award Shortlisted
2012 The Departure Chris Emery EDP-Jarrold East Anglian Book Awards: Poetry Shortlisted
2012 The Frost Fairs John McCullough Polari First Book Prize Winner
2012 Here Comes the Poetry Man Fred Sedgwick CLPE Poetry Awards Shortlisted
2012 Holding the Hands of Angels Brian Moses CLPE Poetry Awards Shortlisted
2012 The Lighthouse Alison Moore The Man Booker Prize Shortlisted
2012 The Lighthouse Alison Moore The National Book Awards Shortlisted
2012 Appearances in the Bentinck Hotel Tim Cockburn EDP-Jarrold East Anglian Book Awards: Poetry Shortlisted
2012 The Last Word Mark Illis The Portico Prize Shortlisted
2011 Off Road to Everywhere Philip Gross, Jonathan Gross CLPE Poetry Awards Winner
2011 The Corner of Arundel Lane and Charles Street Tony Williams The Michael Murphy Memorial Prize Shortlisted
2011 Cuckoo Rock Phil Bowen, Chris Hamilton-Emery CLPE Poetry Awards Shortlisted
2011 Flatlands Victor Tapner Seamus Heaney Centre Prize Shortlisted
2011 Flatlands Victor Tapner EDP-Jarrold East Anglian Book Awards: Poetry Shortlisted
2010 Bitter Sixteen Stefan Mohamed Dylan Thomas Prize for New Writers Winner
2010 The Corner of Arundel Lane and Charles Street Tony Williams The Portico Prize Shortlisted
2010 The Corner of Arundel Lane and Charles Street Tony Williams Aldeburgh First Collection Prize Shortlisted
2010 The Missing Siân Hughes Seamus Heaney Centre Prize Winner
2010 The Missing Siân Hughes Poetry Book Society Shortlisted
2010 Ghostly Subjects Maria Takolander Queensland Premier’s Awards Shortlisted
2010 The Men from Praga Anne Berkeley Seamus Heaney Centre Prize Shortlisted
2010 The Ambulance Box Amy Joanna Philip Seamus Heaney Centre Prize Shortlisted
2009 The Missing Siân Hughes Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection, Forward Prizes for Poetry Shortlisted
2009 Some New Ambush Carys Davies The Roland Mathias Prize Shortlisted
2009 The Missing Siân Hughes The Guardian First Book Award Shortlisted
2009 True Thoughts Pam Brown John Bray Poery Award Shortlisted
2009 Greetings From Below David Philip Mullins The Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction Winner
2009 Dear Alice Tom Pow Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards (Poetry) Winner
2009 Birdhouse Anna Woodford Leverhulme Artist in Residence Award Winner
2008 Los Alamos Mon Amour Simon Barraclough Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection, Forward Prizes for Poetry Shortlisted
2008 Andraste’s Hair Eleanor Rees Glen Dimplex Poetry Award Shortlisted
2008 Drawing in Ash Will Stone Glen Dimplex Poetry Award Winner
2008 Glaciation Will Stone Glen Dimplex Poetry Award Winner
2008 Event Judith Bishop The CJ Dennis Prize for Poetry Shortlisted
2008 Some New Ambush Carys Davies Calvino Prize Shortlisted
2008 The Wrong Miracle Liz Gallagher Oxfam Poetry Calendar Joint winner
2008 Alex y Robert Wena Poon Singapore Literature Prize Shortlisted
2008 American Incident Brian Henry Cecil B. Hemley Memorial Award, Poetry Society of America Winner
2008 Flatlands Victor Tapner The New Writer poetry collection prize Winner
2008 Flatlands Victor Tapner The Poetry Business book and pamphlet competition Shortlisted
2007 The Harbour Beyond the Movie Luke Kennard Forward Poetry Prize for Best Collection Shortlisted
2007 Andraste’s Hair Eleanor Rees Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection, Forward Prizes for Poetry Shortlisted
2007 Don’t Wear It On Your Head, Don’t Stick It Down Your Pants John Siddique CLPE Poetry Awards Shortlisted
2007 Galatea Melanie Challenger Felix Dennis Prize for Best First Collection, Forward Prizes for Poetry Shortlisted
2007 Urban Myths John Tranter Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry Winner
2006 Call Centre Love Song Ian Gregson The Forward Poetry Prize for Best First Collection Shortlisted
2006 Evidence of Red LeAnne Howe The Oklahoma Book Awards Winner
2006 101 Ways to Make Poems Sell Chris Hamilton-Emery American Book Award Winner
2006 American Incident Brian Henry Carole Weinstein Poetry Award Winner
2006 American Incident Brian Henry Glenna Luschei Prairie Schooner Award Winner
2006 Blister Pack David McCooey Mary Gilmore Prize Winner
2006 All the Time in the World Dennis Haskell Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Winner
2005 The Harbour Beyond the Movie Luke Kennard Eric Gregory Award Winner
2005 Flatlands Victor Tapner Writers Inc Writers-of-the-Year Winner
2005 The Blue Butterfly Richard Berengarten The International Morava Charter Prize Winner
2005 The Paradoxes of Water Rod Moran Western Australian Premier's Book Awards Winner
2004 Dear Deliria Pam Brown Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry Winner
2004 The Imageless World Michael Brennan Mary Gilmore Prize Winner
2003 American Incident Brian Henry Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award, Poetry Society of America Winner
2003 Birdhouse Anna Woodford Eric Gregory Award Joint winner
2003 Birdhouse Anna Woodford Arvon Jerwood Apprenticeship Winner
2003 Screens Jets Heaven Jill Jones Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry Winner
2001 American Incident Brian Henry George Bogin Memorial Award, Poetry Society of America Winner
2000 Los Alamos Mon Amour Simon Barraclough London Writers' Prize Winner
2000 American Incident Brian Henry Forward Prize for Poetry Shortlisted