The Costa Book Awards are a series of literary awards given to books by authors based in the United Kingdom and Ireland. They were known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2005, after which Costa Coffee, a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship.
The awards, launched in 1971, are given both for high literary merit but also for works that are enjoyable reading and whose aim is to convey the enjoyment of reading to the widest possible audience. As such, they are a more populist literary prize than the Booker Prize.
In 1989, controversy erupted when the judges first awarded the Best Novel prize to Alexander Stuart's The War Zone, then withdrew the prize prior to the ceremony amid acrimony among the judges, ultimately awarding it to Lindsay Clarke's The Chymical Wedding.
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The process
Currently each year winners are chosen by five separate judging panels picking from different shortlists in five different categories:
- Best novel
- Best first novel
- Children's book
- Poetry
- Biography
Each category winner receives £5,000. One of the category winners is then selected as the Costa Book of the Year and given a further £25,000. This overall award is chosen by a judging panel that comprises five judges from the previous category round and four new ones.
The category winners do not have to be British or Irish but must be resident in the UK or Ireland for at least six months of the year.
Costa Book Award category winners
2008
- First Novel Award — Sadie Jones, The Outcast
- Novel Award — Sebastian Barry, The Secret Scripture
- Children's Book Award — Michelle Magorian, Just Henry
- Poetry Award — Adam Foulds, The Broken Word
- Biography Award — Diana Athill, Somewhere Towards the End
2007
- First Novel Award – Catherine O'Flynn, What Was Lost
- Novel Award — A.L. Kennedy, Day
- Children's Book Award — Ann Kelley, The Bower Bird
- Poetry Award — Jean Sprackland, Tilt
- Biography Award — Simon Sebag Montefiore, Young Stalin
2006
- First Novel Award – Stef Penney, The Tenderness of Wolves
- Novel Award — William Boyd, Restless
- Children's Book Award — Linda Newbery, Set in Stone
- Poetry Award — John Haynes, Letter to Patience
- Biography Award — Brian Thompson, Keeping Mum
2005
- First Novel Award - Tash Aw, The Harmony Silk Factory
- Novel Award - Ali Smith, the accidental
- Children's Book Award - Kate Thompson, The New Policeman
- Poetry Award - Christopher Logue, Cold Calls
- Biography Award - Hilary Spurling, Matisse the Master
2004
- First Novel Award - Susan Fletcher, Eve Green
- Novel Award - Andrea Levy, Small Island
- Children's Book Award - Geraldine McCaughrean, Not the End of the World
- Poetry Award - Michael Symmons Roberts, Corpus
- Biography Award - John Guy, My Heart Is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots
2003
- First Novel Award - DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little
- Novel Award - Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
- Children's Book Award - David Almond, The Fire-Eaters
- Poetry Award - Don Paterson, Landing Light
- Biography Award - DJ Taylor, Orwell: The Life
2002
- First Novel Award - Norman Lebrecht, The Song of Names
- Novel Award - Michael Frayn, Spies
- Children's Book Award - Hilary McKay, Saffy's Angel
- Poetry Award - Paul Farley, The Ice Age
- Biography Award - Claire Tomalin, Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self
2001
- First Novel Award - Sid Smith, Something Like A House
- Novel Award - Patrick Neate, Twelve Bar Blues
- Children's Book Award - Philip Pullman, The Amber Spyglass
- Poetry Award - Selima Hill, Bunny
- Biography Award - Diana Souhami, Selkirk's Island
2000
- First Novel Award - Zadie Smith, White Teeth
- Novel Award - Matthew Kneale, English Passengers
- Children's Book Award - Jamila Gavin, Coram Boy
- Poetry Award - John Burnside, The Asylum Dance
- Biography Award - Lorna Sage, Bad Blood - A Memoir
See also
- List of British literary awards
- List of literary awards
- English literature
- British literature
- Literature
- List of years in literature
References
External links
- Costa Book Awards official web site
- The most honored Costa/Whitbread Book Award shortlist books
- Injecting Caffeine Into the Whitbread (Now Costa) Book Awards at The Book Standard
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