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Costa Book Awards
literary award
Also known as: Whitbread Book Awards, Whitbread Literary Awards
- Formerly:
- Whitbread Literary Awards (1971–84), Whitbread Book Awards (1985–2005)
- Related Topics:
- English literature
- novel
- biography
- poetry
- Notable Honorees:
- James Fenton
- Salman Rushdie
- J.K. Rowling
- Kate Atkinson
Costa Book Awards, series of literary awards given annually to writers resident in the United Kingdom and Ireland for books published there in the previous year. The awards are administered by the British Booksellers Association. Established in 1971, they were initially sponsored by the British corporation Whitbread PLC. In 2006 Costa Coffee, a British coffee shop chain and a subsidiary of Whitbread, assumed ownership of the awards.
Awards are given in five categories (novel, first novel, poetry, biography, and children’s); in addition, since 1985 one of these winners has been chosen for the Costa Book of the Year. A prize purse of £50,000 is shared among the winners. Among the poets who have received the Book of the Year award are Ted Hughes (for Tales from Ovid in 1997 and Birthday Letters in 1998) and Seamus Heaney (for The Spirit Level in 1996 and for his translation of Beowulf in 1999). Book of the Year novelists have included William Trevor for Felicia’s Journey in 1994 and Hilary Mantel for Bring Up the Bodies in 2012.
Winners of the Costa Book Awards are listed in the table.
Britannica Quiz
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz
| year | category | author | title of work |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Prior to 2006 the Costa Book Awards were known as the Whitbread Book Awards. | |||
| 2The overall Book of the Year Award was first awarded. | |||
| 3Children's books were taken out of competition with the other categories for overall Book of the Year. Instead, a Children's Book of the Year was selected. | |||
| 4The Children's Book of the Year was again placed in the competition with the other categories for overall Book of the Year. | |||
| 5The Children's Book award was no longer called Children's Book of the Year. The children's book selection remained eligible for overall Book of the Year. | |||
| 1971 | Novel | Gerda Charles | The Destiny Waltz |
| 1971 | Poetry | Geoffrey Hill | Mercian Hymns |
| 1971 | Biography | Michael Meyer | Henrik Ibsen (3 vol.) |
| 1972 | Novel | Susan Hill | The Bird of Night |
| 1972 | Children's Book | Rumer Godden | The Diddakoi |
| 1972 | Biography | James Pope-Hennessey | Anthony Trollope |
| 1973 | Novel | Shiva Naipaul | The Chip-Chip Gatherers |
| 1973 | Children's Book | Alan Aldridge (illustrations); William Plomer (verses) | The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast |
| 1973 | Biography | John Wilson | C.B.: A Life of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman |
| 1974 | Novel | Iris Murdoch | The Sacred and Profane Love Machine |
| 1974 | Children's Book | Jill Paton Walsh | The Emperor's Winding Sheet |
| 1974 | Children's Book | Russell Hoban (text); Quentin Blake (illustrations) | How Tom Beat Captain Najork & His Hired Sportsmen |
| 1974 | Biography | Andrew Boyle | Poor Dear Brendan: The Quest for Brendan Bracker |
| 1974 | First Book | Claire Tomalin | The Life & Death of Mary Wollstonecraft |
| 1975 | Novel | William McIlvanney | Docherty |
| 1975 | Autobiography | Helen Corke | In Our Infancy |
| 1975 | First Book | Ruth Spalding | The Improbable Puritan: A Life of Bulstrode Whitelock, 1605–1675 |
| 1976 | Novel | William Trevor | The Children of Dynmouth |
| 1976 | Children's Book | Penelope Lively | A Stitch in Time |
| 1976 | Biography | Winifred Gerin | Elizabeth Gaskell |
| 1977 | Novel | Beryl Bainbridge | Injury Time |
| 1977 | Children's Book | Shelagh Macdonald | No End to Yesterday |
| 1977 | Biography | Nigel Nicolson | Mary Curzon |
| 1978 | Novel | Paul Theroux | Picture Palace |
| 1978 | Children's Book | Philippa Pearce | The Battle of Bubble & Squeak |
| 1978 | Biography | John Grigg | Lloyd George: The People's Champion, 1902–1911 |
| 1979 | Novel | Jennifer Johnston | The Old Jest |
| 1979 | Children's Novel | Peter Dickinson | Tulku |
| 1979 | Autobiography | Penelope Mortimer | About Time: An Aspect of Autobiography |
| 1980 | Novel and Book of the Year | David Lodge | How Far Can You Go? |
| 1980 | Children's Novel | Leon Garfield | John Diamond |
| 1980 | Biography | David Newsome | On the Edge of Paradise: A.C. Benson, the Diarist |
| 1981 | Novel | Maurice Leitch | Silver's City |
| 1981 | First Novel | William Boyd | A Good Man in Africa |
| 1981 | Children's Novel | Jane Gardam | The Hollow Land |
| 1981 | Biography | Nigel Hamilton | Monty: The Making of a General, 1887–1942 |
| 1982 | Novel | John Wain | Young Shoulders |
| 1982 | First Novel | Bruce Chatwin | On the Black Hill |
| 1982 | Children's Novel | W.J. Corbett | The Song of Pentecost |
| 1982 | Biography | Edward Crankshaw | Bismarck |
| 1983 | Novel | William Trevor | Fools of Fortune |
| 1983 | First Novel | John Fuller | Flying to Nowhere |
| 1983 | Children's Novel | Roald Dahl | The Witches |
| 1983 | Biography | Victoria Glendinning | Vita: The Life of V. Sackville-West |
| 1983 | Biography | Kenneth Rose | King George V |
| 1984 | Novel | Christopher Hope | Kruger's Alp |
| 1984 | First Novel | James Buchan | A Parish of Rich Women |
| 1984 | Children's Novel | Barbara Willard | The Queen of the Pharisees' Children |
| 1984 | Short Story | Diane Rowe | Tomorrow Is Our Permanent Address |
| 1984 | Biography | Peter Ackroyd | T.S. Eliot |
| 1985 | Book of the Year2 | Douglas Dunn | Elegies |
| 1985 | Novel | Peter Ackroyd | Hawksmoor |
| 1985 | First Novel | Jeanette Winterson | Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit |
| 1985 | Children's Novel | Janni Howker | The Nature of the Beast |
| 1985 | Poetry | Douglas Dunn | Elegies |
| 1985 | Biography | Ben Pimlott | Hugh Dalton |
| 1986 | Book of the Year | Kazuo Ishiguro | An Artist of the Floating World |
| 1986 | Novel | Kazuo Ishiguro | An Artist of the Floating World |
| 1986 | First Novel | Jim Crace | Continent |
| 1986 | Children's Novel | Andrew Taylor | The Coal House |
| 1986 | Poetry | Peter Reading | Stet |
| 1986 | Biography | Richard Mabey | Gilbert White: A Biography of the Author of The Natural History of Selborne |
| 1987 | Book of the Year | Christopher Nolan | Under the Eye of the Clock |
| 1987 | Novel | Ian McEwan | The Child in Time |
| 1987 | First Novel | Francis Wyndham | The Other Garden |
| 1987 | Children's Novel | Geraldine McCaughrean | A Little Lower than the Angels |
| 1987 | Poetry | Seamus Heaney | The Haw Lantern |
| 1987 | Biography | Christopher Nolan | Under the Eye of the Clock |
| 1988 | Book of the Year | Paul Sayer | The Comforts of Madness |
| 1988 | Novel | Salman Rushdie | The Satanic Verses |
| 1988 | First Novel | Paul Sayer | The Comforts of Madness |
| 1988 | Children's Novel | Judy Allen | Awaiting Developments |
| 1988 | Poetry | Peter Porter | The Automatic Oracle |
| 1988 | Biography | A.N. Wilson | Tolstoy |
| 1989 | Book of the Year | Richard Holmes | Coleridge: Early Visions |
| 1989 | Novel | Lindsay Clarke | The Chymical Wedding |
| 1989 | First Novel | James Hamilton-Paterson | Gerontius |
| 1989 | Children's Novel | Hugh Scott | Why Weeps the Brogan? |
| 1989 | Poetry | Michael Donaghy | Shibboleth |
| 1989 | Biography | Richard Holmes | Coleridge: Early Visions |
| 1990 | Book of the Year | Nicholas Mosley | Hopeful Monsters |
| 1990 | Novel | Nicholas Mosley | Hopeful Monsters |
| 1990 | First Novel | Hanif Kureishi | The Buddha of Suburbia |
| 1990 | Children's Novel | Peter Dickinson | AK |
| 1990 | Poetry | Paul Durcan | Daddy, Daddy |
| 1990 | Biography | Ann Thwaite | A.A. Milne: His Life |
| 1991 | Book of the Year | John Richardson | A Life of Picasso |
| 1991 | Novel | Jane Gardam | The Queen of the Tambourine |
| 1991 | First Novel | Gordon Burn | Alma Cogan |
| 1991 | Children's Novel | Diana Hendry | Harvey Angell |
| 1991 | Poetry | Michael Longley | Gorse Fires |
| 1991 | Biography | John Richardson | A Life of Picasso |
| 1992 | Book of the Year | Jeff Torrington | Swing Hammer Swing! |
| 1992 | Novel | Alasdair Gray | Poor Things |
| 1992 | First Novel | Jeff Torrington | Swing Hammer Swing! |
| 1992 | Children's Novel | Gillian Cross | The Great Elephant Chase |
| 1992 | Poetry | Tony Harrison | The Gaze of the Gorgon |
| 1992 | Biography | Victoria Glendinning | Trollope |
| 1993 | Book of the Year | Joan Brady | Theory of War |
| 1993 | Novel | Joan Brady | Theory of War |
| 1993 | First Novel | Rachel Cusk | Saving Agnes |
| 1993 | Children's Novel | Anne Fine | Flour Babies |
| 1993 | Poetry | Carol Ann Duffy | Mean Time |
| 1993 | Biography | Andrew Motion | Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life |
| 1994 | Book of the Year | William Trevor | Felicia's Journey |
| 1994 | Novel | William Trevor | Felicia's Journey |
| 1994 | First Novel | Fred D'Aguiar | The Longest Memory |
| 1994 | Children's Novel | Geraldine McCaughrean | Gold Dust |
| 1994 | Poetry | James Fenton | Out of Danger |
| 1994 | Biography | Brenda Maddox | The Married Man: A Life of D.H. Lawrence |
| 1995 | Book of the Year | Kate Atkinson | Behind the Scenes at the Museum |
| 1995 | Novel | Salman Rushdie | The Moor's Last Sigh |
| 1995 | First Novel | Kate Atkinson | Behind the Scenes at the Museum |
| 1995 | Beefeater Children's Novel | Michael Morpurgo | The Wreck of the Zanzibar |
| 1995 | Poetry | Bernard O'Donoghue | Gunpowder |
| 1995 | Biography | Roy Jenkins | Gladstone |
| 1996 | Book of the Year | Seamus Heaney | The Spirit Level |
| 1996 | Novel | Beryl Bainbridge | Every Man for Himself |
| 1996 | First Novel | John Lanchester | The Debt to Pleasure |
| 1996 | Children's Book of the Year3 | Anne Fine | The Tulip Touch |
| 1996 | Poetry | Seamus Heaney | The Spirit Level |
| 1996 | Biography | Diarmaid MacCulloch | Thomas Cranmer: A Life |
| 1997 | Book of the Year | Ted Hughes | Tales from Ovid |
| 1997 | Novel | Jim Crace | Quarantine |
| 1997 | First Novel | Pauline Melville | The Ventriloquist's Tale |
| 1997 | Children's Book of the Year | Andrew Norriss | Aquila |
| 1997 | Poetry | Ted Hughes | Tales from Ovid |
| 1997 | Biography | Graham Robb | Victor Hugo |
| 1998 | Book of the Year | Ted Hughes | Birthday Letters |
| 1998 | Novel | Justin Cartwright | Leading the Cheers |
| 1998 | First Novel | Giles Foden | The Last King of Scotland |
| 1998 | Children's Book of the Year | David Almond | Skellig |
| 1998 | Poetry | Ted Hughes | Birthday Letters |
| 1998 | Biography | Amanda Foreman | Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire |
| 1999 | Book of the Year | Seamus Heaney (translator) | Beowulf |
| 1999 | Novel | Rose Tremain | Music and Silence |
| 1999 | First Novel | Tim Lott | White City Blue |
| 1999 | Children's Book of the Year4 | J.K. Rowling | Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban |
| 1999 | Poetry | Seamus Heaney (translator) | Beowulf |
| 1999 | Biography | David Cairns | Berlioz, Volume 2: Servitude and Greatness, 1832–1869 |
| 2000 | Book of the Year | Matthew Kneale | English Passengers |
| 2000 | Novel | Matthew Kneale | English Passengers |
| 2000 | First Novel | Zadie Smith | White Teeth |
| 2000 | Children's Book of the Year | Jamila Gavin | Coram Boy |
| 2000 | Poetry | John Burnside | The Asylum Dance |
| 2000 | Biography | Lorna Sage | Bad Blood |
| 2001 | Book of the Year | Philip Pullman | The Amber Spyglass |
| 2001 | Novel | Patrick Neate | Twelve Bar Blues |
| 2001 | First Novel | Sid Smith | Something Like a House |
| 2001 | Children's Book of the Year | Philip Pullman | The Amber Spyglass |
| 2001 | Poetry | Selima Hill | Bunny |
| 2001 | Biography | Diana Souhami | Selkirk's Island |
| 2002 | Book of the Year | Claire Tomalin | Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self |
| 2002 | Novel | Michael Frayn | Spies |
| 2002 | First Novel | Norman Lebrecht | The Song of Names |
| 2002 | Children's Book5 | Hilary McKay | Saffy's Angel |
| 2002 | Poetry | Paul Farley | The Ice Age |
| 2002 | Biography | Claire Tomalin | Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self |
| 2003 | Book of the Year | Mark Haddon | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time |
| 2003 | Novel | Mark Haddon | The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time |
| 2003 | First Novel | DBC Pierre (pseudonym of Peter Finlay) | Vernon God Little |
| 2003 | Children's Book | David Almond | The Fire-Eaters |
| 2003 | Poetry | Don Paterson | Landing Light |
| 2003 | Biography | D.J. Taylor | Orwell: The Life |
| 2004 | Book of the Year | Andrea Levy | Small Island |
| 2004 | Novel | Andrea Levy | Small Island |
| 2004 | First Novel | Susan Fletcher | Eve Green |
| 2004 | Children's Book | Geraldine McCaughrean | Not the End of the World |
| 2004 | Poetry | Michael Symmons Roberts | Corpus |
| 2004 | Biography | John Guy | My Heart Is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots |
| 2005 | Book of the Year | Hilary Spurling | Matisse: the Master: A Life of Henri Matisse, The Conquest of Colour, 1909–1954 |
| 2005 | Novel | Ali Smith | The Accidental |
| 2005 | First Novel | Tash Aw | The Harmony Silk Factory |
| 2005 | Children's Book | Kate Thompson | The New Policeman |
| 2005 | Poetry | Christopher Logue | Cold Calls: War Music Continued |
| 2005 | Biography | Hilary Spurling | Matisse: the Master: A Life of Henri Matisse, The Conquest of Colour, 1909–1954 |
| 2006 | Book of the Year | Stef Penney | The Tenderness of Wolves |
| 2006 | Novel | William Boyd | Restless |
| 2006 | First Novel | Stef Penney | The Tenderness of Wolves |
| 2006 | Children's Book | Linda Newbery | Set in Stone |
| 2006 | Poetry | John Haynes | Letter to Patience |
| 2006 | Biography | Brian Thompson | Keeping Mum: A Wartime Childhood |
| 2007 | Book of the Year | A.L. Kennedy | Day |
| 2007 | Novel | A.L. Kennedy | Day |
| 2007 | First Novel | Catherine O'Flynn | What Was Lost |
| 2007 | Children's Book | Ann Kelley | The Bower Bird |
| 2007 | Poetry | Jean Sprackland | Tilt |
| 2007 | Biography | Simon Sebag-Montefiore | Young Stalin |
| 2008 | Book of the Year | Sebastian Barry | The Secret Scripture |
| 2008 | Novel | Sebastian Barry | The Secret Scripture |
| 2008 | First Novel | Sadie Jones | The Outcast |
| 2008 | Children's Book | Michelle Magorian | Just Henry |
| 2008 | Poetry | Adam Foulds | The Broken Word |
| 2008 | Biography | Diana Athill | Somewhere Towards the End |
| 2009 | Book of the Year | Christopher Reid | A Scattering |
| 2009 | Novel | Colm Toibin | Brooklyn |
| 2009 | First Novel | Raphael Selbourne | Beauty |
| 2009 | Children's Book | Patrick Ness | The Ask and the Answer |
| 2009 | Poetry | Christopher Reid | A Scattering |
| 2009 | Biography | Graham Farmelo | The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius |
| 2010 | Book of the Year | Jo Shapcott | Of Mutability |
| 2010 | Novel | Maggie O'Farrell | The Hand That First Held Mine |
| 2010 | First Novel | Kishwar Desai | Witness the Night |
| 2010 | Children's Book | Jason Wallace | Out of Shadows |
| 2010 | Poetry | Jo Shapcott | Of Mutability |
| 2010 | Biography | Edmund de Waal | The Hare with Amber Eyes |
| 2011 | Book of the Year | Andrew Miller | Pure |
| 2011 | Novel | Andrew Miller | Pure |
| 2011 | First Novel | Christie Watson | Tiny Sunbirds Far Away |
| 2011 | Children's Book | Moira Young | Blood Red Road |
| 2011 | Poetry | Carol Ann Duffy | The Bees |
| 2011 | Biography | Matthew Hollis | Now All Roads Lead to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas |
| 2012 | Book of the Year | Hilary Mantel | Bring Up the Bodies |
| 2012 | Novel | Hilary Mantel | Bring Up the Bodies |
| 2012 | First Novel | Francesca Segal | The Innocents |
| 2012 | Children's Book | Sally Gardner | Maggot Moon |
| 2012 | Poetry | Kathleen Jamie | The Overhaul |
| 2012 | Biography | Mary Talbot, Bryan Talbot | Dotter of Her Father's Eyes |
| 2013 | Book of the Year | Nathan Filer | The Shock of the Fall |
| 2013 | Novel | Kate Atkinson | Life After Life |
| 2013 | First Novel | Nathan Filer | The Shock of the Fall |
| 2013 | Children's Book | Chris Riddell | Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse |
| 2013 | Poetry | Michael Symmons Roberts | Drysalter |
| 2013 | Biography | Lucy Hughes-Hallett | The Pike: Gabriele D'Annunzio, Poet, Seducer, and Preacher of War |
| 2014 | Book of the Year | Helen Macdonald | H Is for Hawk |
| 2014 | Novel | Ali Smith | How to Be Both |
| 2014 | First Novel | Emma Healey | Elizabeth Is Missing |
| 2014 | Children's Book | Kate Saunders | Five Children on the Western Front |
| 2014 | Poetry | Jonathan Edwards | My Family and Other Superheroes |
| 2014 | Biography | Helen Macdonald | H Is for Hawk |
| 2015 | Book of the Year | Frances Hardinge | The Lie Tree |
| 2015 | Novel | Kate Atkinson | A God in Ruins |
| 2015 | First Novel | Andrew Michael Hurley | The Loney |
| 2015 | Children's Book | Frances Hardinge | The Lie Tree |
| 2015 | Poetry | Don Paterson | 40 Sonnets |
| 2015 | Biography | Andrea Wulf | The Invention of Nature: The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt, The Lost Hero of Science |
| 2016 | Book of the Year | Sebastian Barry | Days Without End |
| 2016 | Novel | Sebastian Barry | Days Without End |
| 2016 | First Novel | Francis Spufford | Golden Hill |
| 2016 | Children's Book | Brian Conaghan | The Bombs That Brought Us Together |
| 2016 | Poetry | Alice Oswald | Falling Awake |
| 2016 | Biography | Keggie Carew | Dadland: A Journey into Uncharted Territory |
| 2017 | Book of the Year | Helen Dunmore | Inside the Wave |
| 2017 | Novel | Jon McGregor | Reservoir 13 |
| 2017 | First Novel | Gail Honeyman | Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine |
| 2017 | Children's Book | Katherine Rundell | The Explorer |
| 2017 | Poetry | Helen Dunmore | Inside the Wave |
| 2017 | Biography | Rebecca Stott | In the Days of Rain: A Daughter, A Father, A Cult |
| 2018 | Book of the Year | Bart van Es | The Cut Out Girl |
| 2018 | Novel | Sally Rooney | Normal People |
| 2018 | First Novel | Stuart Turton | The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle |
| 2018 | Children's Book | Hilary McKay | The Skylarks' War |
| 2018 | Poetry | J.O. Morgan | Assurances |
| 2018 | Biography | Bart van Es | The Cut Out Girl |
| 2019 | Book of the Year | Jack Fairweather | The Volunteer |
| 2019 | Novel | Jonathan Coe | Middle England |
| 2019 | First Novel | Sara Collins | The Confessions of Frannie Langton |
| 2019 | Children's Book | Jasbinder Bilan | Asha & the Spirit Bird |
| 2019 | Poetry | Mary Jean Chan | Flèche |
| 2019 | Biography | Jack Fairweather | The Volunteer |
| 2020 | Book of the Year | Monique Roffey | The Mermaid of Black Conch: A Love Story |
| 2020 | Novel | Monique Roffey | The Mermaid of Black Conch: A Love Story |
| 2020 | First Novel | Ingrid Persaud | Love After Love |
| 2020 | Children's Book | Natasha Farrant | Voyage of the Sparrowhawk |
| 2020 | Poetry | Eavan Boland | The Historians |
| 2020 | Biography | Lee Lawrence | The Louder I Will Sing |
| 2021 | Novel | Claire Fuller | Unsettled Ground |
| 2021 | First Novel | Caleb Azumah Nelson | Open Water |
| 2021 | Children's Book | Manjeet Mann | The Crossing |
| 2021 | Poetry | Hannah Lowe | The Kids |
| 2021 | Biography | John Preston | Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell |