The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize is a British based literary prize. It is presented for the best work of literature from Britain or the Commonwealth written by an author under 35. Since 1987 it has been funded by the Mail on Sunday. The winner receives 5000 pouns, while the runners up each receive 500. The prize was inititated in 1942 by Jane Oliver to commemorate her husband John Llewellyn Rhys, a young author who had been killed in the Second World War.

Winners:

  • 1942 - Michael Richey, Sunk by a Mine
  • 1943 - Morwenna Donelly, Beauty for Ashes
  • 1944 - Alun Lewis, The Last Inspection
  • 1945 - James Aldridge, The Sea Eagle
  • 1946 - Oriel Malet, My Bird Sings
  • 1947 - Anne-Marie Walters, Moondrop to Gascony
  • 1948 - Richard Mason, The Wind Cannot Read
  • 1949 - Emma Smith, Maiden's Trip
  • 1950 - Kenneth Allsop, Adventure Lit Their Star
  • 1951 - Elizabeth Jane Howard, The Beautiful Visit
  • 1952 - No Award
  • 1953 - Rachel Trickett, The Return Home
  • 1954 - Tom Stacey, The Hostile Sun
  • 1955 - John Wiles, The Moon to Play With
  • 1956 - John Hearne, Voices Under the Window
  • 1957 - Ruskin Bond, The Room on the Roof
  • 1958 - V. S. Naipaul, The Mystic Masseur
  • 1959 - Dan Jacobson, A Long Way from London
  • 1960 - David Caute, At Fever Pitch
  • 1961 - David Storey, Flight Into Camden
  • 1962 - Robert Rhodes James An Introduction to the House of Commons and Edward Lucie-Smith, A Tropical Childhood and Other Poems
  • 1963 - Peter Marshall, Two Lives
  • 1964 - Nell Dunn, Up the Junction
  • 1965 - Julian Mitchell, The White Father
  • 1966 - Margaret Drabble, The Millstone
  • 1967 - Anthony Masters, The Seahorse
  • 1968 - Angela Carter, The Magic Toyshop
  • 1969 - Melvyn Bragg, Without a City Wall
  • 1970 - Angus Calder, The People's War
  • 1971 - Shiva Naipaul, Fireflies
  • 1972 - Susan Hill, The Albatross
  • 1973 - Peter Smalley, A Warm Gun
  • 1974 - Hugh Fleetwood, The Girl Who Passed for Normal
  • 1975 - David Hare, Knuckle and Tim Jeal, Cushing's Crusade
  • 1976 - No Award
  • 1977 - Richard Cork, Vorticism & Abstract Art in the First Machine Age
  • 1978 - A. N. Wilson, The Sweets of Pimlico
  • 1979 - Peter Boardman, The Shining Mountain
  • 1980 - Desmond Hogan, The Diamonds at the Bottom of the Sea
  • 1981 - A. N. Wilson, The Laird of Abbotsford
  • 1982 - William Boyd, An Ice-Cream War
  • 1983 - Lisa St Aubin de Teran, The Slow Train to Milan
  • 1984 - Andrew Motion, Dangerous Play
  • 1985 - John Milne, Out of the Blue
  • 1986 - Tim Parks, Loving Roger
  • 1987 - Jeanette Winterson, The Passion
  • 1988 - Matthew Yorke, The March Fence
  • 1989 - Claire Harman, Sylvia Townsend Warner
  • 1990 - Ray Monk, Ludwig Wittgenstein: The Duty of Genius
  • 1991 - A. L. Kennedy, Night Geometry and the Garscadden Trains
  • 1992 - Matthew Kneale, Sweet Thames
  • 1993 - Jason Goodwin, On Foot to the Golden Horn: A Walk to Istanbul
  • 1994 - Jonathan Coe, What a Carve Up!
  • 1995 - Melanie McGrath, Motel Nirvana
  • 1996 - Nicola Barker, Heading Inland
  • 1997 - Phil Whitaker, Eclipse of the Sun
  • 1998 - Peter Ho Davies, The Ugliest House in the World
  • 1999 - David Mitchell, Ghostwritten
  • 2000 - Edward Platt, Leadville
    • Shortlist
    • Julia Leigh, The Hunter
    • Roddy Lumsden, The Book of Love
    • Ben Rice, Pobby & Dingan
    • Zadie Smith, White Teeth
    • Cole Moreton, Hungry for Home Leaving the Blaskets: A Journey from the Edge of Ireland
  • 2001 - Susanna Jones, The Earthquake Bird