The Commonwealth Writers Prize was established in 1987. It awards £10,000 to the best book submitted, £3,000 to the best first book, and £1,000 each to the best book and best first book of an author in each of the four Commonwealth regions.
Best Books Winners:
- 2002 - Richard Flanagan, Gould's Book of Fish
- 2001 - Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang
- 2000 - John Maxwell Coetzee, Disgrace
- 1999 - Murray Bail, Eucalyptus
- 1998 - Peter Carey, Jack Maggs
- 1997 - Earl Lovelace, Salt
- 1996 - Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance
- 1995 - Louis de Bernieres, Captain Corelli's Mandolin
- 1994 - Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy
- 1993 - Alex Miller, The Ancestor Game
- 1992 - Rohinton Mistry, Such a Long Journey
- 1991 - David Malouf, The Great World
- 1990 - Mordecai Richler, Solomon Gursky Was Here
- 1989 - Janet Frame, The Carpathians
- 1988 - Festus Iyayi, Heroes
- 1987 - Olive Senior, Summer Lightning
- 2002 - Many Herbstein. Ama, A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade
- 2001 - Zadie Smith, White Teeth
- 2000 - Jeffrey Moore, Prisoner in a Red-Rose Chain
- 1999 - Kerri Sakamoto, The Electrical Field
- 1998 - Tim Wynveen, Angel Falls
- 1997 - Ann-Marie MacDonald, Fall on your Knees
- 1996 - Vikram Chandra, Red Earth, Pouring Rain
- 1995 - Adib Khan, Seasonal Adjustments
- 1994 - Keith Oatley, The Case of Emily V
- 1993 - Gita Hariharan, The Thousand Faces of Night
- 1992 - Robert Antoni, Divina Trace
- 1991 - Pauline Melville, Shape-Shifter
- 1990 - John Cranna, Visitors
- 1989 - Bonnie Burnard, Women of Influence
