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News & Reviews
WORD:
Costa Book Awards 2008 category winners announced
Edited Press Release
Costa, the UK's largest and fastest-growing coffee shop chain,
announced the Costa Book Awards 2008 winners in the Novel, First Novel,
Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book categories. The Costa Book Awards
recognize the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in
the UK and Ireland.
Originally
established in 1971 by Whitbread PLC, Costa announced its takeover of
the sponsorship of the UK's popular and prestigious book prize in 2006.
The five successful authors who will now compete for the 2008 Costa
Book of the Year are as follows:
Sadie Jones, whose
bestselling debut novel, "The Outcast," scoops the First Novel Award.
Sebastian Barry, who
triumphs in the Novel Award category for "The Secret Scripture" after
missing out on the Man Booker.
Diana Athill, who wins
the Costa Biography Award for her memoir, "Somewhere Towards the End."
At the age of 91, Diana is the oldest-ever category-winning
author in the history of the Book Awards.
Adam Foulds with his
debut work of poetry about the Mau Mau uprisings in Kenya, "The Broken
Word."
Michelle Magorian, the
popular author of "Goodnight Mr Tom," who wins the Children’s Book
Award for "Just Henry," her first new book in ten years.
"The Costa Book Awards have an excellent track record of recognising
and celebrating some of the very best current British writing, and
books that can be enjoyed by everyone," said John Derkach, Managing Director,
Costa.
"We’re very proud to be announcing such an outstanding collection of
books which we know people will enjoy reading. Our final judges will
have a tough time selecting just one from these five for the title of
Costa Book of the Year - but it makes for a very exciting awards
ceremony later this month."
The five Costa Book Award winners, each of whom will receive
£5,000, were selected from 616 entries, the highest ever. The
five books are now eligible for the ultimate prize - the 2008 Costa
Book of the Year.
The winner will be selected by a panel of judges chaired by columnist
and broadcaster Matthew Parris
and including Rosamund Pike, Michael
Buerk, Alexander Armstrong and Andrea
Catherwood. It will be announced at an awards ceremony hosted by
Mariella Frostrup at the
Intercontinental Hotel in central London on Tuesday, January 27, 2009.
Since the introduction of the Book of the Year award in 1985, it has
been won eight times by a novel, four times by a first novel, five
times by a biography, five times by a collection of poetry and once by
a children’s book. The 2007 Costa Book of the Year was won by A.L. Kennedy
for "Day."
For additional information go to www.costabookawards.com.
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