The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. Originally named the Whitbread Book Awards from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the

Whitbread Whitbread is a British multinational hotel and restaurant company headquartered in Houghton Regis, England. The business was founded as a brewery in 1742 by Samuel Whitbread in partnership with Godfrey and Thomas Shewell, with premises in L ...

company, then a brewery and owner of pub-restaurant chains, it was renamed when

Costa Coffee Costa Limited, trading as Costa Coffee, is a coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, England, that operates in the United Kingdom and 37 other countries. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa (co ...

, 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 The Coca-Cola Company is an American multinational corporation founded in 1892. It manufactures, sells and markets soft drinks including Coca-Cola, other non-alcoholic beverage concentrates and syrups, and alcoholic beverages. Its stock is lis ...

in 2018. The awards were discontinued in 2022. 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 the

Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

, 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 A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

Children's Books A child () is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The term may also refer to an unborn human being. In English-speaking countries, the legal definition of ''chi ...

First Novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to p ...

Novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

Poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

, and

Short Story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

. In 1989, there was controversy when the judges first awarded the Best Novel prize to Alexander Stuart'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''.

History

The 1989 Whitbread Book Award for Best Novel was first awarded to ''The War Zone'' by Alexander Stuart. However, juror

Jane Gardam Jane Mary Gardam (born Jean Mary Pearson; 11 July 1928 – 28 April 2025) was an English writer of children's and adult fiction and literary critic. She also penned reviews for ''The Spectator'' and ''The Telegraph'', and wrote for BBC Radio. ...

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 la ...

, 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, with the 2021 awards being the last ones made. Just one month later, the

Blue Peter Book Award The Blue Peter Book Awards were a set of literary awards for children's books conferred by the BBC television programme ''Blue Peter''. They were inaugurated in 2000 for books published in 1999 and 2000. The awards were managed by reading charity ...

was also discontinued; this left only three widely recognized awards for UK children's literature (the

Waterstones Children's Book Prize The Waterstones Children's Book Prize is an annual award given to a work of children's literature published during the previous year. First awarded in 2005, the purpose of the prize is "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" and is the ...

, the Carnegie Medal, and the

Kate Greenaway Medal The Carnegie Medal for Illustration (until 2022 the Kate Greenaway Medal) is a British award that annually recognises "distinguished illustration in a book for children". It is conferred upon the illustrator by the Chartered Institute of Librar ...

Process

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". 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.

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 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. 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 The Costa Book Award for Novel, formerly known as the Whitbread Award (1971–2005), was an annual literary award for novels, as part of the Costa Book Awards. The awards were dissolved in 2022. Recipients Costa Books of the Year are distingu ...

Costa Book Award for First Novel The Costa Book Award for First Novel, formerly known as the Whitbread Award (1971–2006), was an annual literary award for authors' debut novels, part of the Costa Book Awards which were discontinued in 2022, the 2021 awards being the last made. ...

Costa Book Award for Children's Book The Costa Book Award for Children's Book, formerly known as the Whitbread Award (1971–2005), was an annual literary award for children's books, part of the Costa Book Awards The Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recogni ...

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 Costa Book Awards were a set of annual literary awards recognising Eng ...

Costa Book Award for Biography The Costa Book Award for Biography, formerly part of the Whitbread Book Awards (1971–2006), was an annual literary award for biographies, part of the Costa Book Awards. The award concluded in 2022. Recipients Costa Books of the Year are dist ...

Costa Book Award for Short Story The Costa Book Award for Short Story, established in 2012, was an annual literary award for short stories, part of the Costa Book Awards. The awards were dissolved in 2022. Recipients Costa Books of the Year are distinguished with a bold font a ...

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 2022 English-language literary awards 2022 disestablishments in the United Kingdom