The Costa (formerly Whitbread) Awards
What are the Costa Awards… and why the name change from Whitbread?
The Costa Awards are one of the most prestigious book awards to be awarded in British and Irish publishing. They are judged against more populist criteria than the highbrow Booker - whether a book is enjoyable to read, for example.
The Awards have been given since 1971 and are sponsored by the Whitbread group, a brewery-and-pub chain. They re-named them the Costas after the chain of coffee shops that they own (and operate in branches of Waterstones across the UK), perhaps spotting that few of today’s drinkers thumb through a Kazuo Ishiguro while sinking a few pints.
Why are there so many Costa Awards?
Awards are given across five categories:
- Best novel
- Best first novel
- Children’s
- Poetry
- Biography
As a result, the judges in the 2007 Costa Awards had to read some 550 books between them.
What do you get for winning this book award?
The winner in each category gets £5,000 (and a boost in sales). A Costa Book of the Year is chosen from the five, and a further £25,000 is awarded to its author.
When is everything announced?
The Costas are announced later than the Booker and Nobel prizes. The shortlists are announced in November, and the winners in the New Year.
Further reading about the Costa Awards can be found on Wikipedia’s Costa Awards entry.
Read more on the official Costa Awards website.
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