British Book Awards: Books of the Year shortlists announced
The shortlists were announced today at the 2017 London Book Fair
The six category shortlists for the 2017 Books of the Year Awards were announced today at the 2017 London Book Fair by Chair of the Judges and Contributing Editor of The Bookseller Cathy Rentzenbrink who said “there’s innovation, experimentation, good old-fashioned story-telling and beautiful production values.”
2016 marked a step-change in the British Book Industry Awards. A complete revamp of the Books of the Year, creating four new categories - for Children’s, Début Fiction, Fiction and Non-fiction – with an overall Book of the Year winner, was introduced to celebrate the books that best demonstrated the real value of publishing; a close collaboration between publisher and author that culminates in something extraordinary for the reader. This year, industry magazine The Bookseller, which runs the awards has acquired the British Book Awards, meaning that it will run as a unified event for the first time since 2004. Now known as The British Book Awards (or “Nibbies”), the 2017 ceremony is further expanded to include additional book awards: Crime and Thriller titles will have their own category, while non-fiction is split into Narrative and Lifestyle.
The winners will be revealed at a glamorous awards ceremony on Monday 8 May at Grosvenor House in central London which will bring together authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians and literary agents for a night celebrating the entire book industry.
The shortlists, which consist of six books in each of the six categories and which uniquely honour not just the author and illustrator of a title but the entire publishing team, are:
Books of the Year – 2017 shortlists
Fiction BOOK OF THE YEAR
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry (Faber & Faber)
The Sellout by Paul Beatty (Oneworld)
The Muse by Jessie Burton (Picador)
Cartes Postales from Greece by Victoria Hislop (Headline Review)
This Must Be the Place by Maggie O’Farrell (Headline)
The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry (Serpent’s Tail)
Debut BOOK OF THE YEAR
The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon (Borough Press)
The Girls by Emma Cline (Chatto & Windus)
My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal (Penguin General)
What Belongs to You by Garth Greenwell (Picador)
Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain by Barney Norris (Doubleday)
Golden Hill by Francis Spufford (Faber)
Crime and Thriller BOOK OF THE YEAR
The Widow by Fiona Barton (Bantam Press)
Dodgers by Bill Beverley (No Exit Press)
Night School by Lee Child (Bantam Press)
Lie With Me by Sabine Durrant (Mulholland Books)
Conclave by Robert Harris (Hutchinson)
I See You by Claire Mackintosh (Little, Brown)
Non-fiction: Narrative BOOK OF THE YEAR
Mad Girl by Bryony Gordon (Headline)
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi (The Bodley Head)
The Outrun by Amy Liptrot (Canongate)
East West Street by Philippe Sands (W&N)
The Good Immigrant, ed by Nikesh Shukla (Unbound)
Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen (S&S)
Non-fiction: Lifestyle BOOK OF THE YEAR
Hello, is this Planet Earth? By Tim Peake (Century)
Sidemen The Book by The Sidemen (Coronet)
The Unmumsy Mum by Sarah Turner (Bantam Press)
Five on Brexit Island by Bruno Vincent (Quercus)
Lean in 15: The Sustain Plan by Joe Wicks (Bluebird)
The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking (Penguin Life)
Children’s BOOK OF THE YEAR
The Christmasaurus by Tom Fletcher, Shane Devries (illus) (Puffin)
Oi Dog! Kes and Claire Gray and Jim Field (Hodder)
Nadiya’s Bake Me a Story by Nadiya Hussain, Clair Rossiter (illus) (Hodder)
The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargreave (Chicken House)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J K Rowling, John Tiffany and Jack Thorne (Little, Brown and Pottermore)
The World’s Worst Children by David Walliams and Tony Ross (Harper Collins Children’s Books)
The category winners will be decided by six panels of judges, and a separate panel will go on to choose the overall Book of the Year. The category winners and the Book of the Year will be announced at the awards ceremony on 8 May 2017.
Comments from the judges:
Cathy Rentzenbrink, chair of the judges said: "What a delight it is to be celebrating the huge variety on offer from UK publishing. Our shortlists are full of unleashed imaginations, smart ideas, brave new worlds and personal stories tamed on to the page. There’s innovation, experimentation, good old-fashioned story-telling and beautiful production values. It is a joy to judge this prize and to be able to consider every part of the journey from the author’s mind to the readers’ hands."
Sarah Shaffi, Online Editor at The Bookseller and deputy chair of judges said: “At the core of the 36 fantastic books on our shortlist are great writing and great stories, which are illuminated by passionate authors, agents, publishers, retailers and more who help get the book from dream to reality. Celebrating the work of an entire team is key to our awards, and it’s wonderful to be able to shine a light on the many people involved in helping a book succeed."
Produced by leading industry magazine The Bookseller, the British Book Awards represent a high point in the book trade’s calendar, with winners including Publisher of the Year, Book Retailer of the Year, and Independent Bookshop of the Year. The Books of the Year awards recognise the publishing as well as the books, with both author and publisher as recipients of the prize.
The British Book Awards represent a high point of the book trade’s year. A time when all the business comes together to celebrate its achievements. To win an award is the ultimate recognition of an individual or an organisation’s excellence. For a complete list of categories: http://www.thebookseller.com/events/british-book-awards
The Judges: The category winners will be decided by six panels of judges, and a separate panel will go on to choose the overall Book of the Year from the six category winners
Fiction BOOK OF THE YEAR:
Alice O’Keeffe – chair (Books Editor, The Bookseller)
Hannah Trevarthen (Events and Development Manager, English Pen)
Claire Armitstead (Literary Editor, The Guardian)
Chris White (Head of Publisher Liaison and Fiction, Waterstones)
Charlotte Heathcote (Arts Editor, Daily and Sunday Express)
Eric Karl Anderson (Blogger, Lonesome Reader)
Debut fiction BOOK OF THE YEAR:
Matt Bates – chair (Fiction Buyer, WH Smith Travel)
Sharmaine Lovegrove (Books editor, Elle)
Ted Hodgkinson(Literature Director, Southbank)
Fanny Blake (Books Editor, Woman & Home; Debut novels, Daily Mail)
Alex Clark (Journalist The Guardian & Observer; Bath Festival Artistic Director)
Alison Finch (Books planning producer BBC Radio 4)
Crime & Thriller BOOK OF THE YEAR:
Joseph Knox – chair (Author Sirens)
Sandy Mahal (Director of UNESCO Nottingham City of Literature)
Dreda Say Mitchell (Author)
Jake Kerridge (Critic: Daily Telegraph, Sunday Express)
Sheila O'Reilly (Village Books, Dulwich)
Non-fiction: Narrative BOOK OF THE YEAR:
Cathy Rentzenbrink – chair (Author The Last Act of Love, A Manual for Heartache, contributing editor The Bookseller)
Suzanne O'Sullivan (Author It's All in Your Head)
Robbie Millen (Literary Editor, The Times)
Lucy Menendez (Director, Books WH Smiths)
Arifa Akbar (Critic: The Guardian, Financial Times)
Katharine Fry (Trade Buying Manager, Blackwell)
Non-fiction: Lifestyle BOOK OF THE YEAR
Caroline Sanderson – chair (Associate Editor and non-fiction previewer for The Bookseller)
Karen Brindle (Book buyer, Tesco)
Katie Law (Deputy Literary Editor and Features Writer, Evening Standard)
Suzi Feay (Critic, Financial Times)
Richard Humphreys (Retailer, Waterstones)
Lorraine Pascal(Author & TV presenter, Baking Made Easy)
Children’s BOOK OF THE YEAR
Fiona Noble – chair (Children's & YA Previews Editor for The Bookseller)
Tricia Adams (Director School’s Library Association)
Rachel Foster (Books Editor, Mumsnet)
Tamara MacFarlane (Owner, Tales on Moon Lane)
Juno Dawson (Author, Spot the Difference, This Book is Gay)
Charlotte Colvill (Retailer, Foyles Bookshop)
David Solomons (Author, My Brother is a Superhero, winner British Book Award 2016)
Dan Mucha (Retailer, Amazon)
The judging panel for the overall Book of the Year:
Cathy Rentzenbrink – chair (Author The Last Act of Love, A Manual for Heartache, contributing editor The Bookseller)
Peter Florence (Director, Hay Festival)
Andrew Holgate (Literary editor, Sunday Times)
Sam Baker (Author, editor in chief The Pool)
Dorothy Koomson (Author, My Best Friend’s Girl, The Woman he Loved Before)
June Sarpong (TV presenter and author)
Damian Barr (Author, Maggie & Me)
For a complete list of Judges: http://www.thebookseller.com/british-book-awards/judges
