What are the Costa Book Awards?
Launched in 1971, the Costa Book Awards is one of the UK's most prestigious and popular book prizes and celebrates the most enjoyable books of the year by writers resident in the UK and Ireland.
Uniquely, the prize has five categories – First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book – with one of the five winning books selected as the overall Costa Book of the year and each category is judged separately by a panel of three judges per category. The Costa Book of the Year is then chosen by a nine-member panel which includes representatives from the original panels who are joined by other well-known people who love reading.
Books are entered by publishers and entry for the Awards closes at the end of June each year. The author of the Costa Book of the Year receives a cheque for £30,000, presented at an awards ceremony at the end of January. See below for all the latest news and updates.
Key dates for the 2021 awards
Close of entry: Wednesday 30th June 2021
Category Shortlists announced: Tuesday 23rd November 2021
Category Winners announced: Tuesday 4th January 2022
Costa Book of the Year announced: Tuesday 1st February 2022
See here a list of all past winners and, for the all the latest news and updates, check below.