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, South East Asia and the South Pacific, Eurasia, Africa, the Carribean and Canada.

Best Books Winners

• 1987 - Olive Senior , Summer Lightning
• 1988 - Festus Iyayi , Heroes
• 1989 - Janet Frame, The Carpathians
• 1990 - Mordecai Richler, Solomon Gursky Was Here
• 1991 - David Malouf, The Great World
• 1992 - Rohinton Mistry, Such a Long Journey
• 1993 - Alex Miller , The Ancestor Game
• 1994 - Vikram Seth, A Suitable Boy
• 1995 - Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin
• 1996 - Rohinton Mistry, A Fine Balance
• 1997 - Earl Lovelace , Salt
• 1998 - Peter Carey, Jack Maggs
• 1999 - Murray Bail, Eucalyptus
• 2000 - John Maxwell Coetzee, Disgrace
• 2001 - Peter Carey, True History of the Kelly Gang
• 2002 - Richard Flanagan, Gould's Book of Fish
• 2003 - Austin Clarke, The Polished Hoe
• 2004 - Caryl Philips , - A Distant Shore
• 2005 - Andrea Levy, - Small Island

Best First Book Winners

• 1989 - Bonnie Burnard, Women of Influence
• 1990 - John Cranna , Visitors
• 1991 - Pauline Melville , Shape-Shifter
• 1992 - Robert Antoni , Divina Trace
• 1993 - Gita Hariharan , The Thousand Faces of Night
• 1994 - Keith Oatley , The Case of Emily V
• 1995 - Adib Khan , Seasonal Adjustments
• 1996 - Vikram Chandra , Red Earth, Pouring Rain
• 1997 - Ann-Marie MacDonald, Fall on your Knees
• 1998 - Tim Wynveen, Angel Falls
• 1999 - Kerri Sakamoto, The Electrical Field
• 2000 - Jeffrey Moore , Prisoner in a Red-Rose Chain
• 2001 - Zadie Smith, White Teeth
• 2002 - Manu Herbstein, Ama, A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade
• 2003 - Sarah Hall , Haweswater
• 2004 - Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time
• 2005 - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Purple Hibiscus