Costa Book Awards 2013

(from costa.co.uk)

The Costa Book Awards

The Costa Book Awards is the only major UK book prize that is open solely to authors resident in the UK and Ireland and also, uniquely, recognises the most enjoyable books across five categories – First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book - published in the last year.

Originally established in 1971 by Whitbread Plc, Costa announced its takeover of the sponsorship of the UK's most prestigious book prize in 2006. 2013 marks the 42nd year of the Book Awards.

This year’s Costa Book Awards attracted 617 entries – the highest number of entries ever received in one year. Judges on this year’s panels (three per category) included broadcaster and journalist Paul Ross; broadcaster and author Clemency Burton-Hill; poet and journalist Olivia Cole; author and former Channel 4 News culture editor, Matthew Cain, author, columnist and scriptwriter Emma Kennedy and writers, John Burnside, Anne de Courcy and Fanny Blake.

Winners in the five categories, who each receive £5,000, will be announced on Monday 6th January 2014. The overall winner of the Costa Book of the Year 2013 will receive £30,000 and will be selected and announced at the Costa Book Awards ceremony in central London on Tuesday 28th January 2014.

The winner of the Costa Short Story Award, voted for by the public, will also be announced at the ceremony. The shortlisted six stories for the Costa Short Story Award, now in its second year, will be revealed on the Costa Book Awards website, www.costa.co.uk/costa-book-awards/‎, on Tuesday 3rd December.

Since the introduction of the Book of the Year award in 1985, it has been won eleven times by a novel, four times by a first novel, five times by a biography, seven times by a collection of poetry and once by a children’s book. The 2012 Costa Book of the Year was Bring Up the Bodies by novelist Hilary Mantel; the first book to have been named as Costa Book of the Year and won the Man Booker Prize in the same year.

To be eligible for the 2013 Costa Book Awards, books must have been first published in the UK or Ireland between 1 November 2012 and 31 October 2013 and their authors resident in the UK for the previous three years.

Click HERE for the 2013 Costa Book Awards Shortlists.

For additional information please visit www.costa.co.uk/costa-book-awards/