Booker the most important literary prize globally – Survey

Booker is the most important literary prize in the world, a survey conducted by Nielsen Book states. 

The international survey showed publishers, writers, booksellers and media rank Booker Prize ahead of Pulitzer. 

The survey was conducted in 2020 and repeated in 2021, and showed that the Booker and the Pulitzer were best known, followed by the Costa, British Book Awards, and Women’s Prize for Fiction in the UK, and the National Book Awards and Newbery Prizes in the US. 

The Booker came out top internationally as Booker received the highest “importance rating” of the awards, in both years receiving the highest importance rating of the awards tested over UK/Ireland respondents, but trailing behind the Pulitzer, National Book Award and Newbery among US respondents.

Nielsen also found that among publishers and writers, the potential impact on sales remained the most important factor in choosing to submit to a prize, over domestic or international status.