The Guardian First Book Award was established in 1999 to reward the finest new literary talent with a £10,000 prize for an author's first book. (From 1965 to 1998, the award was known as the Guardian Fiction Award). The award is open to writing across all genres. It is unique among book awards as debut works of fiction are judged alongside those of non-fiction. The judging panel is chaired by the Guardian's literary editor.

Mutants / Armand Marie Leroi (Winner)
Natasha and other stories / David Bezmozgis
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell / Susanna Clarke
Ground Water / Matthew Hollis
The Places In Between / Rory Stewart
A Chance Meeting / Rachel Cohen
Becoming Strangers / Louise Dean
High Tide: News from a Warming World / Mark Lynas
The Flood / David Maine
Drinking Coffee Elsewhere / ZZ Packer
Some Great Thing / Colin McAdam
How to Breathe Underwater / Julie Orringer
The Longshoreman / Richard Shelton

2003

Mountains of the Mind / Robert Macfarlane (Winner)
Brick Lane / Monica Ali
Vernon God Little / D.B.C. Pierre
Into the Silent Land / Paul Broks
Stasiland / Anna Funder
The Book of Salt / Monique Truong
A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies / John Murray
Q / Luther Blissett
Duende / Jason Webster
The Last Party / John Harris
A Life Everlasting / Miranda Hearn
An Evening of Long Goodbyes / Paul Murray
Astonishing Splashes of Colour / Clare Morrall
The Zanzibar Chest: A Memoir of Love and War / Aidan Hartley
In the Blink of an Eye / Andrew Parker
Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers / Mary Roach 

2002

Everything is Illuminated / Jonathan Safran Foer (Winner)
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight / Alexandra Fuller
The Impressionist / Hari Kunzru
Mapping Mars / Oliver Morton
The Only Good Thing Anyone Has Ever Done / Sandra Newman
The Snow Geese / William Fiennes
Virgins of Venice / Mary Laven
Stories I Stole From Georgia / Wendell Steavenson
Accidents in the Home / Tessa Hadley
The Cutting Room / Louise Welsh

2001

Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth / Chris Ware (Winner)
Anthony Blunt / Miranda Carter
Wittgenstein's Poker / David Edmonds and John Eidinow
Carter Beats the Devil / Glen David Gold
The Dark Room / Rachel Seiffert
The Testament of Yves Gundron / Emily Barton
Bee Season / Myla Goldberg
A Circle of Sisters / Judith Flanders
Thumb's Width / John Redmond

2000

White Teeth / Zadie Smith (Winner)
The Hiding Place / Trezza Azzopardi
In Beautiful Disguises / Rajeev Balasubramanyam
Ubiquity / Mark Buchanan
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank / Thad Carhart
House of Leaves / Mark Z Danielewski
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius / Dave Eggers
The Rising Sun / Douglas Galbraith
No Logo / Naomi Klein
Catfish and Mandala / Andrew X. Pham

1999

We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families / Philip Gourevitch (Winner)
The Lighthouse Stevensons / Bella Bathurst
The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing / Melissa Bank
Boxy an Star / Daren King
Ghostwritten / David Mitchell
By the Shore / Galaxy Craze
Saddled with Darwin / Toby Green
The Blue Bedspread / Raj Kamal Jha
Who Paid the Piper? The CIA and the Cultural Cold War / Frances Stonor Saunders
The Nudist Colony / Sarah May
No Place Like Home / Gary Younge