Data and Archives Project

James Tait Black Data and Archives Project

Lead judges Dr Hannah Boast and Dr Désha Osborne are working with English literature subject librarian Robert O'Brien to assemble a collection of data related to the prizes. This work forms part of the James Tait Black Data and Archives Project, inaugurated in 2025.

The prizes are of international significance, as the UK's joint oldest literary award, yet it is not easy to find data on their history.

Materials being assembled as part of the project will include lists of titles submitted annually (from 2025 onwards); historic shortlists; historic lists of judges; and relevant items in the university archives. The library is also in the process of acquiring first editions of all winning titles.

Findings from the project will gradually be made publicly available, online and open access, in order to support the sharing of literary and cultural data. 

We have already made some exciting discoveries in the university archives that we hope to share soon.

We hope these discoveries will be of interest to researchers, writers, the publishing industry, teachers, and lovers of literature.

We welcome enquiries from researchers interested in the history of the prize, or who may be keen to undertake projects or studies that would support our work.

We are particularly keen to connect with scholars, archivists, or readers with data sets, findings, or other materials relating to the prize they may wish to share. 

Enquiries about this work should be sent to the lead judges directly (hannah.boast[at]ed.ac.uk/desha.osborne@ed.ac.uk).