Wikipedia / Costa Book Awards
Wikipedia / Costa Book Awards
The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then a brewery and owner of pub-restaurant chains, it was renamed when Costa Coffee, then a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship. The companion Costa Short Story Award was established in 2012. Costa Coffee was purchased by the Coca-Cola Company in 2018. The awards were discontinued in 2022.
The awards were given both for high literary merit and for works that were enjoyable reading, and their aim was to convey the enjoyment of reading to the widest possible audience. As such, they were considered a more populist literary prize than the Booker Prize, which also limited winners to literature written in the English language and published in the UK and Ireland.
Awards were separated into six categories: Biography, Children's Books, First Novel, Novel, Poetry, and Short Story.
In 1989, there was controversy 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.
History
The 1989 Whitbread Book Award for Best Novel was first awarded to The War Zone by Alexander Stuart. However, juror Jane Gardam felt the book was "repellent" and appealed directly to the Whitbread company, arguing that awarding the prize to Stuart's novel would make them into a "laughing stock". After ten days, and leaking the story to the press, the other two jurors, David Cook and Val Hennessy, were persuaded to change their minds, and Lindsay Clarke's The Chymical Wedding won the award instead. Both Cook and Hennessy found the experience so unpleasant they vowed to never sit in an award jury again.
The awards were discontinued in 2022, with the 2021 awards being the last ones made. Just one month later, the Blue Peter Book Award was also discontinued; this left only three widely recognized awards for UK children's literature (the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, the Carnegie Medal, and the Kate Greenaway Medal).
Process
There were five book award categories. These had not been changed since the Poetry Award was introduced in 1985, although the children's category had been termed "children's novel" or "children's book of the year". The categories are:
Novel
First novel
Children's book
Poetry
Biography
Each of the five winning writers received £5,000. The prize required a £5,000 fee from publishers if a book was to be shortlisted.
Short stories
The short story award was established in 2012 with a prize of £3,500 for the first, £1,000 for the second and £500 for the third. The winning story was determined by public vote from a shortlist of six that were selected by a panel of judges. The process was "blind" at both stages for the unpublished entries were anonymous until the conclusion.
In the inaugural year, the six short story finalists were exposed anonymously online while the public vote was underway, two months before the winner was to be announced.
Winners
Bold font and blue ribbon () distinguish the overall Costa/Whitbread Book of the Year.
For lists that include shortlisted entries (where available), please see:
List of award winners
Year | Award | Notes & Refs | |||||
1971 | Gerda CharlesThe Destiny Waltz | — | — | Geoffrey HillMercian Hymns | Michael MeyerHenrik Ibsen | — | |
1972 | — | — | James Pope-HennessyAnthony Trollope | — | |||
1973 | — | Alan Aldridge and William PlomerThe Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast | — | John WilsonCB: A Life of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman | — | ||
1974 | Claire TomalinThe Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft | Russell Hoban and Quentin BlakeHow Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired SportsmenJill Paton WalshThe Emperor's Winding Sheet | — | Andrew BoylePoor Dear Brendan | — | ||
1975 | William McIlvanneyDocherty | Ruth SpaldingThe Improbable Puritan: A Life of Bulstrode Whitelocke | — | — | Helen CorkeIn Our Infancy | — | |
1976 | — | — | Winifred GerinElizabeth Gaskell | — | |||
1977 | — | Shelagh MacdonaldNo End to Yesterday | — | Nigel NicolsonMary Curzon | — | ||
1978 | Paul TherouxPicture Palace | — | Philippa PearceThe Battle of Bubble & Squeak | — | John GriggLloyd George: The People's Champion | — | |
1979 | — | — | Penelope MortimerAbout Time | — | |||
1980 | — | Leon GarfieldJohn Diamond | — | David NewsomeOn the Edge of Paradise: A. C. Benson, Diarist | — | ||
1981 | Jane GardamThe Hollow Land | — | Nigel HamiltonMonty: The Making of a General | — | |||
1982 | W. J. CorbettThe Song of Pentecost | — | Edward CrankshawBismarck | — | |||
1983 | John FullerFlying to Nowhere | — | Victoria GlendinningVitaKenneth RoseKing George V | — | |||
1984 | Christopher HopeKruger's Alp | James BuchanA Parish of Rich Women | Barbara WillardThe Queen of the Pharisees' Children | — | Peter AckroydT. S. Eliot | Diane RoweTomorrow is our Permanent Address | |
1985 | Janni HowkerThe Nature of the Beast | Douglas DunnElegies | Ben PimlottHugh Dalton | — | |||
1986 | Jim CraceContinent | Andrew TaylorThe Coal House | Peter ReadingStet | Richard MabeyGilbert White | — | ||
1987 | Geraldine McCaughreanA Little Lower than the Angels | Seamus HeaneyThe Haw Lantern | Christopher NolanUnder the Eye of the Clock | — | |||
1988 | Judy AllenAwaiting Developments | Peter PorterThe Automatic Oracle | A. N. WilsonTolstoy | — | |||
1989 | James Hamilton-PatersonGerontius | Hugh ScottWhy Weeps the Brogan | Michael DonaghyShibboleth | Richard HolmesColeridge: Early Visions | — | ||
1990 | Nicholas MosleyHopeful Monsters | Paul DurcanDaddy, Daddy | Ann ThwaiteAA Milne – His Life | — | |||
1991 | Diana HendryHarvey Angell | Michael LongleyGorse Fires | John RichardsonA Life of Picasso | — | |||
1992 | Jeff TorringtonSwing Hammer Swing! | Gillian CrossThe Great Elephant Chase | Tony HarrisonThe Gaze of the Gorgon | Victoria GlendinningTrollope | — | ||
1993 | Rachel CuskSaving Agnes | Carol Ann DuffyMean Time | Andrew MotionPhilip Larkin: A Writer's Life | — | |||
1994 | Fred D'AguiarThe Longest Memory | Geraldine McCaughreanGold Dust | James FentonOut of Danger | Brenda MaddoxD H Lawrence: The Married Man | — | ||
1995 | Bernard O'DonoghueGunpowder | Roy JenkinsGladstone | — | ||||
1996 | Anne FineThe Tulip Touch | Diarmaid MacCullochThomas Cranmer: A Life | — | ||||
1997 | Pauline MelvilleThe Ventriloquist's Tale | Andrew NorrissAquila | Graham RobbVictor Hugo | — | |||
1998 | Justin CartwrightLeading the Cheers | David AlmondSkellig | Amanda ForemanGeorgiana, Duchess of Devonshire | — | Posthumous Book of the Year Award | ||
1999 | Tim LottWhite City Blue | David CairnsBerlioz Volume Two: Servitude and Greatness | — | ||||
2000 | Jamila GavinCoram Boy | John BurnsideThe Asylum Dance | — | ||||
2001 | Sid SmithSomething Like A House | Selima HillBunny | Diana SouhamiSelkirk's Island | — | |||
2002 | Norman LebrechtThe Song of Names | Paul FarleyThe Ice Age | Claire TomalinSamuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self | — | |||
2003 | Mark HaddonThe Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time | DJ TaylorOrwell: The Life | — | ||||
2004 | Susan FletcherEve Green | Michael Symmons RobertsCorpus | John GuyMy Heart Is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots | — | |||
2005 | Tash AwThe Harmony Silk Factory | Christopher LogueCold Calls | Hilary SpurlingMatisse the Master | — | |||
2006 | John HaynesLetter to Patience | Brian ThompsonKeeping Mum | — | ||||
2007 | Ann KelleyThe Bower Bird | Jean SpracklandTilt | Simon Sebag MontefioreYoung Stalin | — | |||
2008 | Sadie JonesThe Outcast | Michelle MagorianJust Henry | Adam FouldsThe Broken Word | Diana AthillSomewhere Towards the End | — | ||
2009 | Christopher ReidA Scattering | Graham FarmeloThe Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius | — | ||||
2010 | Kishwar DesaiWitness the Night | Jo ShapcottOf Mutability | — | ||||
2011 | Christie WatsonTiny Sunbirds Far Away | Carol Ann DuffyThe Bees | Matthew HollisNow All Roads Lead to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas | — | |||
2012 | Francesca SegalThe Innocents | Sally GardnerMaggot Moon | Kathleen JamieThe Overhaul | Avril JoyMillie and Bird | |||
2013 | Chris RiddellGoth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse | Michael Symmons RobertsDrysalter | Angela ReadmanThe Keeper of the Jackalopes | ||||
2014 | Kate SaundersFive Children on the Western Front | Jonathan EdwardsMy Family and Other Superheroes | Zoe Gilbert Fishskin, Hareskin | ||||
2015 | Andrew Michael HurleyThe Loney | Don Paterson40 Sonnets | Danny MurphyRogey | ||||
2016 | Brian ConaghanThe Bombs That Brought Us Together | Keggie CarewDadland: A Journey into Uncharted Territory | Jess KiddDirty Little Fishes | ||||
2017 | Jon McGregorReservoir 13 | Katherine RundellThe Explorer | Rebecca StottIn the Days of Rain | — | Posthumous Book of the Year Award | ||
2018 | Hilary McKayThe Skylarks' War | J. O. MorganAssurances | Bart van EsThe Cut Out Girl: A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found | — | |||
2019 | Sara CollinsThe Confessions of Frannie Langton | Jasbinder BilanAsha & the Spirit Bird | Mary Jean ChanFlèche | — | |||
2020 | Ingrid PersaudLove After Love | Natasha FarrantVoyage of the Sparrowhawk | Eavan BolandThe Historians | Lee LawrenceThe Louder I Will Sing | Tessa SheridanThe Person Who Serves, Serves Again | ||
2021 | Manjeet Mann, The Crossing | Hannah Lowe, The Kids | John Preston, Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell | — | |||
Year | Notes & Refs | ||||||
"—" not awarded this year |
See also
References
External links
Injecting Caffeine Into the Whitbread (Now Costa) Book Awards at The Book Standard