The Noma Literary Prize (Noma Bungei Shō) was established in 1941 by the Noma Service Association (Noma Hōkō Kai) in accordance with the last wishes of Noma Seiji (1878-1938), founder and first president of the Kōdansha publishing company. The Noma Literary Prize has been awarded annually to an outstanding new work published in Japan between October and the following September. The Noma Prize includes a commemorative plaque and a cash award of 3 million yen. It is one in a series of Noma Prizes.
This prize was last awarded in 1998.
A literary award is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author.
Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Many awards are structured with one organization (usually a non-profit organization) as the presenter and public face of the award, and another organization as the financial sponsor or backer, who pays the prize remuneration and the cost of the ceremony and public relations, typically a corporate sponsor who may sometimes attach their name to the award (such as the Orange Prize).
There are awards for several forms of writing such as poetry and novels. Many awards are also dedicated to a certain genre of fiction or non-fiction writing (such as science fiction or politics). There are also awards dedicated to works in individual languages, e.g. the Miguel de Cervantes Prize (Spanish), and the Camões Prize (Portuguese), and the Man Booker Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Hugo Awards (English).