Bookreporter.com - Costa Awards

2007 Costa Awards Winners

The winners for this year's Costa Book Awards, formerly known as the Whitbread Awards, were announced recently. One of the most prestigious literary prizes in the UK, the Awards honor the most enjoyable books of the year by writers based in the UK and Ireland.

This year's Category Award Winners are:

Costa First Novel Award
WHAT WAS LOST by Catherine O'Flynn (Random House)

Costa Novel Award
DAY by A. L. Kennedy (Knopf)

Costa Children's Book Award
THE BOWER BIRD by Ann Kelley (Luath Press Ltd)

Costa Poetry Award
TILT by Jean Sprackland (Jonathan Cape)

Costa Biography Award
YOUNG STALIN by Simon Sebag Montefiore (Knopf)

More information about the Costa Book Awards can be found at http://www.costabookawards.com/

2007 Costa Awards Shortlist

The shortlist for this year's Costa Book Awards, formerly known as the Whitbread Awards, were announced recently. One of the most prestigious literary prizes in the UK, the Awards honor the most enjoyable books of the year by writers based in the UK and Ireland.

Five panels of judges selected finalists in the categories of First Novel, Novel, Children's Book, Poetry and Biography, and the winners --- to be announced on January 3rd, 2008 --- will receive a cash prize of £5,000. One of the five winning titles will then be chosen as the overall recipient of the Book of the Year Award and will further be given £25,000. Previous winners include THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME by Mark Haddon, THE AMBER SPYGLASS by Philip Pullman, BEOWULF by Seamus Heaney, BIRTHDAY LETTERS by Ted Hughes and SMALL ISLAND by Andrea Levy.

The shortlist for the 2007 Costa Awards includes:

Costa First Novel Award
A GOLDEN AGE by Tahmima Anam (Harper)
GIFTED by Nikita Lalwani (Random House)
WHAT WAS LOST by Catherine O'Flynn (Random House)
MOSQUITO by Roma Tearne (HarperCollins)

Costa Novel Award
SKIN LANE by Neil Barlett (Serpent's Tail)
DAY by A. L. Kennedy (Knopf)
DEATH OF A MURDERER by Rupert Thomson (Knopf)
THE ROAD HOME by Rose Tremain (Chatto & Windus)

Costa Children's Book Award
THE BOWER BIRD by Ann Kelley (Luath Press Ltd)
CRUSADE by Elizabeth Laird (Macmillan Children's Books)
WHAT I WAS by Meg Rosoff (Viking)
BLOOD RED SNOW WHITE by Marcus Sedgwick (Orion Children's Books)

Costa Poetry Award
THE SPEED OF DARK by Ian Duhig (Macmillan UK)
THE SPACE OF JOY by John Fuller (Random House UK)
LOOK WE HAVE COMING TO DOVER! by Daljit Nagra (Faber and Faber)
TILT by Jean Sprackland (Jonathan Cape)

Costa Biography Award
RUDOLF NUREYEV by Julie Kavanagh (Pantheon)
AGENT ZIGZAG by Ben Macintyre (Harmony)
YOUNG STALIN by Simon Sebag Montefiore (Knopf)
FATTY BATTER by Michael Simkins (Random House UK)

More information about the Costa Book Awards can be found at http://www.costabookawards.com/

2006 Costa Award Winners

Costa First Novel Award
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney

Costa Novel Award
Restless by William Boyd

Costa Children's Book Award
Keeping Mum by Brian Thompson

Costa Poetry Award
Letter to Patience by John Haynes

Costa Biography Award
Set in Stone by Linda Newbery

More information about the Costa Book Awards can be found at http://www.costabookawards.com/

2005 Costa Award Winners

First Novel:
THE HARMONY SILK FACTORY by Tash Aw (Riverhead)

Novel:
THE ACCIDENTAL by Ali Smith (Pantheon)

Biography:
MATISSE THE MASTER by Hilary Spurling (Knopf)

Poetry:
COLD CALLS by Christopher Logue (Faber and Faber)

Children's Book:
THE NEW POLICEMAN by Kate Thompson (Gardners Books)

More information about the Costa Book Awards can be found at http://www.costabookawards.com/

2004 Costa Awards Winners

First Novel:
EVE GREEN by Susan Fletcher (Norton)

Novel:
SMALL ISLAND by Andrea Levy (Picador)

Biography:
MY HEART IS MY OWN: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots, by John Guy (Fourth Estate)

Poetry:
CORPUS by Michael Symmons Roberts

Children's Book:
NOT THE END OF THE WORLD by Geraldine McCaughrean (Oxford University Press)

More information about the Costa Book Awards can be found at http://www.costabookawards.com/

2003 Costa Awards Winners

Novel:
SPIES by Michael Frayn

First Novel:
THE SONG OF NAMES by Norman Lebrecht

Poetry:
THE ICE AGE by Paul Farley

Biography:
SAMUEL PEPYS: The Unequalled Self, by Claire Tomalin

Children's Book:
SAFFY'S ANGEL by Hilary McKay

More information about the Costa Book Awards can be found at http://www.costabookawards.com/