Costa Book Awards
Costa Book Awards | |
---|---|
Awarded for | English-language books by writers based in the UK and Ireland |
Country | United KingdomandRepublic of Ireland |
Presented by | Costa Coffee |
Formerly called | Whitbread Book Awards |
First awarded | 1971 |
Last awarded | 2021 |
Website | costa |
TheCosta Book Awardswere a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based inUKandIreland.Originally named theWhitbread Book Awardsfrom 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, theWhitbreadcompany, then a brewery and owner of restaurant chains, it was renamed whenCosta Coffee,then a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship.[1][2]The companionCosta Short Story Awardwas established in 2012.[3]Costa Coffee was purchased bythe Coca-Cola Companyin 2018. The awards were abruptly terminated in 2022.[4]
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 theBooker 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,andShort Story.
In 1989, there was controversy when the judges first awarded the Best Novel prize toAlexander Stuart'sThe War Zone,then withdrew the prize prior to the ceremony amid acrimony among the judges, ultimately awarding it toLindsay Clarke'sThe Chymical Wedding.
History[edit]
The 1989 Whitbread Book Award for Best Novel was first awarded toThe War Zoneby Alexander Stuart.[5]However, jurorJane Gardamfelt 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".[6]After ten days, and leaking the story to the press, the other two jurors,David CookandVal Hennessy,were persuaded to change their minds, and Lindsay Clarke'sThe Chymical Weddingwon the award instead. Both Cook and Hennessy found the experience so unpleasant they vowed to never sit in an award jury again.[7]
The awards were discontinued in 2022, with the 2021 awards being the last ones made.[4][8]Just one month later, theBlue Peter Book Awardwas also discontinued; this left only three widely recognized awards for UK children's literature (theWaterstones Children's Book Prize,theCarnegie Medal,and theKate Greenaway Medal).[9]
Process[edit]
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".[1][2]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.[10]
Short stories[edit]
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.[11]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.[3][12]
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.[12]
Winners[edit]
Bold fontand blue ribbon () distinguish the overall Costa/Whitbread Book of the Year.[1]
For lists that include shortlisted entries (where available), please see:
- Costa Book Award for Novel
- Costa Book Award for First Novel
- Costa Book Award for Children's Book
- Costa Book Award for Poetry
- Costa Book Award for Biography
- Costa Book Award for Short Story
List of award winners[edit]
See also[edit]
- List of British literary awards
- List of Irish literary awards
- List of literary awards
- English literature
- Irish literature
- European literature
- British literature
- Literature
- List of years in literature
References[edit]
- ^abc"CBA Past Winners 2015 Version"(PDF).Costa Book Awards.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 15 September 2015.Retrieved12 September2015.
- ^ab"CBA Past Shortlists 2015 Version"(PDF).Costa Book Awards.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 24 November 2015.Retrieved12 September2015.
- ^ab Alison Flood (17 July 2012)."Costa's new short story award to be judged anonymously".The Guardian.Retrieved17 July2012.
- ^abBarnett, David (10 June 2022)."Costa book awards scrapped suddenly after 50 years".The Guardian.Retrieved3 March2023.
- ^Kelly, Laura (11 January 2000)."The Wrath of Roth".Sun Sentinel. Archived fromthe originalon 1 July 2021.
- ^"The War Zone Diary", page 222 of the War Zone, Stuart, Alexander, ISBN 0385249535, Doubleday, 1989
- ^David Streitfeld (10 December 1989)."Book Report".The Washington Post.Washington, D.C.ISSN0190-8286.OCLC1330888409.Archivedfrom the original on 27 August 2017.
- ^Armitstead, Claire (23 June 2022)."Shock ending: how the Costa book awards changed reading – and pitted husband against wife".The Guardian.Retrieved3 March2023.
- ^Shaffi, Sarah (6 July 2022)."Children's books world reacts to 'horrible loss' of Blue Peter book awards".TheGuardian.Archivedfrom the original on 29 May 2023.
- ^
Danuta Kean (2 January 2017)."On eve of Costa awards, experts warn that top books prizes are harming fiction".The Guardian.Retrieved27 November2018.
The biggest three prizes, including the Costas, require a £5,000 fee from publishers if a book is shortlisted. This is a contribution towards marketing and should, the organisers claim, be offset by increases in sales.
- ^"The Costa Short Story Award terms and conditions of entry"(PDF).Costa. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 25 November 2016.Retrieved24 November2016.
- ^ab Alison Flood (28 November 2012)."Costa short story prize to be decided by public vote".Alison Flood. 28 November 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ^"Costa Short Story Award"Archived15 February 2014 at theWayback Machine.Costa Book Awards. Retrieved 2014-02-03.
- ^"Costa Book Awards 2017"(PDF).Costa Book Awards. January 2018. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 3 January 2018.Retrieved3 January2018.
- ^"Costa Book Awards 2018: the category award winners are..."BBC.January 2019.Retrieved8 January2019.
- ^Chandler, Mark (28 January 2020)."Costa Book of the Year won by Fairweather's The Volunteer".The Bookseller.Retrieved28 January2020.
- ^Doyle, Martin (6 January 2020)."Costa Book Awards 2019 winners revealed".The Irish Times.Retrieved28 January2020.
- ^"Costa Book of the Year: 'Utterly original' Mermaid of Black Conch wins".BBC.January 2021.Retrieved3 February2021.
- ^"Costa Book Awards 2021 category winners announced".Costa.Retrieved5 January2022.
External links[edit]
- Official website
- Costa Book Awardscollected news and commentary atThe Guardian
- Injecting Caffeine Into the Whitbread (Now Costa) Book AwardsatThe Book Standard