“Truly exceptional” Shuggie Bain is Book of the Year 2021 at the British Book Awards
17-year-old Dara McAnulty triumphs over Sir Captain Tom Moore and Barack Obama, winning Book of the Year - Non-Fiction Narrative for Diary of a Young Naturalist
David Olusoga’s Black and British takes Children’s Illustrated & Non-Fiction, Maggie O’Farrell‘s chart-topping Hamnet wins Fiction Book of the Year
Robert Galbraith’s Troubled Blood beats Richard Osman’s run-away hit The Thursday Murder Club and crime stalwart Ian Rankin
Richard Osman named Author of the Year, Charlie Mackesy Illustrator of the Year
Douglas Stuart’s astonishing debut novel, about a boy growing up amid poverty and addiction in 1980s Glasgow, has beaten fierce competition from Maggie O’Farrell and David Olusoga to be awarded the prestigious overall Book of the Year accolade at the British Book Awards. The announcement was made in a virtual awards ceremony, which was live-streamed from 4pm this afternoon.
Winning overall Book of the Year is a triumph for the 44-year-old Scottish-American author, and for his publisher, Picador, who put their full weight behind the title from the outset. Before the novel found its home there, and with Grove Atlantic in the US, Shuggie Bain was rejected by 32 editors. The book has sold half a million copies in all formats globally since. Last year, it was awarded the Booker Prize.
The Book of the Year judges hailed Shuggie Bain, which took Stuart over a decade to write, “a classic” and found it best demonstrated all three tenets that make a Book of the Year – the quality of the writing; the innovative publishing vision; and excellent sales.
Speaking from his home in New York, Douglas Stuart said: “Shuggie Bain wouldn’t be in the world without the support of my family, and obviously my mother, who is at the very heart of the novel, but I would like to thank all the British booksellers and readers who have really taken Shuggie and Agnes to heart. My thanks to the amazing team at Picador, who took a chance on my wee sad Scottish book. And to everybody who embraced the story and – especially in such a tough and weird year – has kept literature at the heart of our communities. I’m so grateful for you.”
Produced by the UK’s book trade magazine The Bookseller, the British Book Awards, affectionately known as the Nibbies, are the definitive celebration of the country’s leading creative industry. This year’s celebration comes as the latest Publishers Association figures show just how well the industry has weathered the storm of the pandemic: total publishing sales hit record levels in 2020, rising 2% to £6.4bn, with consumer book sales up 7%.
Book of the Year judge Peter Frankopan said: “It was so hard to choose between such very different books, written for very different audiences. But we all agreed that Shuggie Bain is a classic that will be read in 20 years’ time. It is an immensely powerful book and an unusual one too. We were incredibly impressed by the writing, but also by the way the book came about, and by how it was supported by the author and the publisher. A very worthy winner from a very strong field.”
Book of the Year judge Ella Risbridger said: “As a testament to the ways poverty, addiction and violence scar themselves on the body and the mind, Shuggie Bain remains unsettlingly timely. I hope in years to come, we can read it purely as a period piece; purely as a reminder of how things used to be – but for now we must read it also as something of an incentive and an invitation to change. That this is a debut is remarkable, and Douglas Stuart is a talent to be reckoned with.”
Book of the Year judge Kate Skipper said: “Shuggie Bain is truly exceptional. Our booksellers have been the most passionate champions of this remarkable book since publication; a testament to the powerful characters and the phenomenal voice of Shuggie. It is hard to comprehend that such a captivating book can be a debut and I am longing to read whatever Douglas Stuart writes next.”
Book of the Year chair Alice O’Keeffe, books editor of The Bookseller, said: “The success of Shuggie Bain is testament not only to Douglas Stuart’s extraordinary writing but also to the commitment and enthusiasm of publisher Picador, who acquired the novel after a dozen other UK publishers turned it down. The story of Shuggie and his love for his alcoholic mother Agnes is one that readers and critics have taken to their hearts, as did our judges on the day.”
Presenter, producer, comedian, and writer Richard Osman was named Author of the Year at today’s ceremony, while Charlie Mackesy, author of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, was awarded Illustrator of the Year.
The overall Book of the Year is chosen from the nine individual Book of the Year winners, all of which were announced at today’s ceremony:
Audiobook of the Year: Jay Shetty’s unusual self-help manual Think Like A Monk took the top position ahead of Grown Ups by Marian Keyes (WF Howes), The Sandman by Neil Gaiman and Dirk Maggs (Audible), and the audiobook version of Obama’s A Promised Land.
Book of the Year - Children’s Fiction: A breathless train journey full of deceptions and puzzles, The Highland Falcon Thief, by MG Leonard and Sam Sedgman, illustrated by Elisa Paganelli, won ahead of superstars David Walliams and Tony Ross’ Code Name Bananas (HarperCollins) and Tom Fletcher and Shane Devries’ The Danger Gang (Puffin).
Book of the Year - Children’s Illustrated & Non-Fiction: David Olusoga’s essential Black and British (Macmillan), revised for younger readers, triumphed here, with Adam Kay’s Anatomy (Puffin) and Katherine Rundell’s The Book of Hope (Bloomsbury) also in running.
Book of the Year - Fiction: The besteller list-topping Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (Tinder Press) was chosen from a list that also included the much-anticipated finale to Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall Trilogy The Mirror and The Light (4th Estate) and The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (Dialogue Books).
Book of the Year - Fiction: Crime & Thriller: Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith took this award ahead of The Sentinel (Bantam Press) by Lee Child, with brother Andrew, and The Thursday Murder Club (Viking) by Richard Osman.
Book of the Year - Fiction: Début: The overall Book of the Year winner, Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain, was surrounded by, and outshone, a wide range of talent here, including first-time writers Paul Mendez (Rainbow Milk, Dialogue) and Naoise Dolan (Exciting Times, W&N).
Book of the Year - Non-Fiction: Lifestyle: With her ultimate no-nonsense guide Skincare (HQ), the beauty and lifestyle expert Caroline Hirons succeeded here, beating the nation’s favourite baker Nadiya Hussain (Nadiya Bakes, Michael Joseph) and Five Minute Mum: Give Me Five by Daisy Upton (Penguin Random House Children’s).
Book of the Year - Non-fiction: Narrative: This trophy went to teenage author Dara McAnulty’s Diary of a Young Naturalist, published by the tiny publisher Little Toller, outshining national hero Sir Captain Tom Moore’s biography Tomorrow will be a Good Day (Michael Joseph), Barack Obama’s presidential memoir A Promised Land (Viking), and Layla Saad’s Me and My White Supremacy (Quercus).
Book of the Year - Pageturner: In its inaugural year, this award created to recognise popular fiction titles across all formats went to Where the Crawdads Sing (Corsair) by Delia Owens, beating Ben Aaronvitch’s False Value (Gollancz) and Adele Park’s Just My Luck (HQ) amongst others.
Today’s ceremony will be followed by a summer party to celebrate the shortlists, winners and the wider trade. Further details will be announced in due course.
For further information, and to join the conversation please visit:
www.thebookseller.com/british-book-awards
For all media enquires please contact Kealey Rigden, Daniel Kramb and Robert Greer at FMcM Associates kealeyr@fmcm.co.uk, danielk@fmcm.co.uk, robertg@fmcm.co.uk
