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 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 abruptly terminated in 2022. The awards were 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 were considered a more populist literary prize than the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a Literary award, literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United King ...

, which also limits winners to literature written in the UK and Ireland. Awards were separated into six categories: Biography, Children's Books, First Novel,

Novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

, Poetry, and Short Story. In 1989, there was controversy when the judges first awarded the Best Novel prize to

Alexander Stuart Alexander Stuart may refer to: *Alexander Stuart (scientist) (1673–1742), scientist, winner of the Copley Medal *Alexander Hugh Holmes Stuart (1807–1891), United States Secretary of the Interior between 1850 and 1853 *Alexander Stuart (Australi ...

'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 ''The Chymical Wedding'' is a 1989 novel by Lindsay Clarke about the intertwined lives of six people in two different eras. Inspired by the life of Mary Anne Atwood, the book includes themes of alchemy, the occult, fate, passion, and obsession ...

''.

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 Val Hennessy is a British journalist who writes for the '' Daily Mail''. Career Hennessy taught English and drama before commencing a writing and journalistic career with the ''Brighton Voice'', ''Peace News'' and ''Big Scream''. Hennessy lat ...

, 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. Just one month later, the Blue Peter Book Award was too discontinued; leaving only two widely recognized awards for UK children's literature (the Waterstones Children's Book Prize and the

Kate Greenaway Medal The Kate Greenaway Medal is a British literary award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals (CILIP) ...

Process

There are five book award categories. These have not been changed since the Poetry Award was introduced in 1985, although the children's category has 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 receives £5,000. The prize requires a £5,000 fee from publishers if a book is 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 is determined by public vote from a shortlist of six that are selected by a panel of judges. The process is "blind" at both stages for the unpublished entries are 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: * Costa Book Award for Novel * Costa Book Award for First Novel * Costa Book Award for Children's Book *

Costa Book Award for Poetry The Costa Book Award for Poetry, formerly known as the Whitbread Award (1971-2006), was an annual literary award for poetry collections, part of the Costa Book Awards. The award concluded in 2022. Recipients Costa Books of the Year are distingui ...

* Costa Book Award for Biography * Costa Book Award for Short Story

List of award winners

References

External links

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Injecting Caffeine Into the Whitbread (Now Costa) Book Awards
at ''The Book Standard'' {{Authority control 1971 establishments in the United Kingdom Awards established in 1971 Awards disestablished in the 2020s English-language literary awards