THE SHORTLIST HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED FOR THE 2019 COSTA BOOK AWARDS The Booksellers Association administer the Costa Book Awards, which is one of the most prestigious and popular literary prizes in the UK and recognises some of the most enjoyable books of the year by writers based in the UK and Ireland.
The Costa Book Awards have five categories: First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book. The winner in each category receives £5,000. One of these five books is selected as the overall winner of the Book of the Year and receives a further £30,000, making a total prize fund of £55,000. It is the only prize which places children's books alongside adult books in this way. The Awards started life in 1971 as the Whitbread Literary Awards. From 1985 they were known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2006, when Costa Coffee took over ownership - the year that both Costa and the Book Awards celebrated their 35th anniversary. 2019 Nominees The Shortlist for nominees across all 5 categories were publicly announced on the 26th November 2019 on BBC Radio 4. The award winners will be released in January 2020, with the Book of the Year being announced at a ceremony on the 28th January.
The Nominees are as follows:
NOVEL Jonathan Coe - Middle England (Viking) Sophie Hardach - Confession with Blue Horses (Head of Zeus) Rowan Hisayo Buchanan - Starling Days (Sceptre) Joseph O'Connor - Shadowplay (Harvill Secker)
APPLYING FOR THE AWARDS Entries are not currently open. Entries for the 2020 Costa Book Awards will open in the Summer. If you would like to be added to the mailing list to receive information about submitting entries, email Rehana Nurmahi. www.costa.co.uk/costa-book-award @CostaBookAwards