Davina McCall, Bonnie Garmus, R. F. Kuang, Alice Oseman and Dr. Alex George Awarded for Books that Captured the National Zeitgeist at British Book Awards 2023
British Book Awards
• Overall Book of the Year 2023 was awarded to Menopausing by Davina McCall and Dr Naomi Potter
• Nominated for five a wards, the internationally bestselling novelist Bonnie Garmus, who wrote her debut novel at 64 years old, was named Author of the Year
• Alice Oseman, creator of the bestselling Heartstopper graphic novels which inspired the Netflix series, was awarded Illustrator of the Year
• R.F. Kuang’s Babel was named Fiction Book of the Year after huge breakout success, with UK editor Natasha Bardon and imprint HarperVoyager also winning awards
• Other winners were SF Said for Tyger, Dr Alex George for A Better Day, Sheena Patel for I’m a Fan, and Louise Kennedy, who was the surprise winner of the Debut award for her well-regarded Trespasses
Bonnie Garmus, British Book Awards 2023 Winner
Lessons in Chemistry, British Book Awards 2023 Winner
At a buzzing ceremony at Grosvenor House London, the multi-million copy bestseller Bonnie Garmus swept the boards at the British Book Awards 2023, whose debut novel Lessons in Chemistry received five nominations across the Book of the Year and the Book Trade Award shortlists, including the prestigious Author of the Year award, Marketing Campaign of the Year and Publicity Campaign of the Year for her teams at Doubleday.
Judged by a panel including Channel 4 News lead anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy, Davina McCall and Dr. Naomi Potter’s Menopausing was announced as the Overall Book of the Year after winning its category Non-Fiction Lifestyle & Illustrated Book of the Year. McCall’s publisher HQ was also shortlisted for Imprint of the Year and Marketing Campaign of the Year.
Krishnan Guru-Murthy said: ”This book helped get a nationwide conversation going about menopause and captured the zeitgeist. It was cleverly marketed and nurtured by the publishing team through considerable obstacles. And the pairing of Davina McCall with Dr Naomi Potter was clever enough to produce an authoritative and useful yet entertaining book about an important and ignored subject.”
McCall’s win, along with that of Dr Alex George for Children’s Non-Fiction Book of the Year for A Better Day, demonstrates the positive impact books are having on health and wellbeing. NHS figures show that an extra 500,000 women were prescribed hormone replacement therapy (HRT) as a result of the ‘Davina effect’, with nearly 2 million women given the menopause-busting drug. Menopausing continues to rank highly in the bestseller charts over six months after publication.
On winning Overall Book of the Year, Menopausing triumphed over TikTok favourites Verity by Colleen Hoover and Babel by R. F. Kuang. Babel was awarded Fiction Book of the Year, paving the way for another sweep of wins for a major publisher as Babel editor Natasha Bardon won Editor of the Year and HarperVoyager won Imprint of the Year.
Chair of the British Book Awards judges and The Bookseller’s editor Philip Jones said: “Readers were the real winners this year, with titles ranging from Menopausing to Tyger to I’m a Fan demonstrating the remarkable virtuosity of the book business, especially for its role in amplifying and creating conversations around mental health, misogyny, sexuality and gender, the menopause and more. These awards give the lie to the idea that publishing is a one-track business: our judges this year opted to reward exceptional and compelling narratives expertly brought to market, with the book trade lauded for its commitment to promoting all types of reading for all types of reader.”
Creator and illustrator of the Heartstopper series Alice Oseman was praised for building a community of devoted fans and celebrating diverse voices for a younger audience and was named Illustrator of the Year for 2023 following shortlistings for Heartstopper in 2020, 2022, and 2023.
The British Book Awards affirm, connect and energise all who have a hand in creating books and all who read them, by showcasing the authors and illustrators who have stirred our hearts and imaginations, and the industry behind the scenes who have brought them to readers. This year’s ceremony at Grosvenor House was hosted by broadcaster and presenter Lauren Laverne and CBBC presenter Rhys Stephenson, was celebrated at numerous satellite parties across the country, and was available for public viewing on livestream.
The Book Trade portion of the evening celebrated the creative minds of the book industry. Publisher Simon & Schuster saw numerous nominations across the board, not only amongst the Book of the Year shortlists, before going on to win Publisher of the Year for the second year running, and Children’s Publisher of the Year, while Griffin Books in Wales took home Independent Bookshop of the Year and Suzanne Dean – designer of iconic covers for Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood, Julian Barnes and more – took home Designer of the Year.
Chair of the Book of the Year judges and Books editor Alice O’Keeffe said: “Our panel of judges rose to the challenge of choosing the 2023 British Book Award winners from the strong shortlists this year. From mind-expanding fantasy to cerebral crime, and from heart-felt memoir to life-changing advice on the menopause, we celebrate these fabulous books and the dedication of publishers who bring them to readers everywhere.”
For further information, and to join the conversation please visit: www.thebookseller.com/awards/the-british-book-awards www.twitter.com/thebookseller