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Then, one of the best things to do is to look at the short list or long lists from annual book prizes.
Book Prize Awards are an excellent way to find authors you would otherwise not come across. We stock many of the current and previous winners from many different book prizes including the Man Booker Prize, Womens Prize, Wellcome Book Prizes and the Sports Book awards.
Please click the title tabs for more details
Man Booker Prize
The Man Booker Prize is the leading literary award in the English speaking world, and has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over four decades. Each year, the £50,000 prize is awarded to what is, in the opinion of the judges, the best novel of the year written in English and published in the UK. It is a prize that transforms the winner’s career. The longlist is typically announced in July, the shortlist in September and the winner in October.
Women's Prize for Fiction
The Women's Prize for Fiction was originally launched in 1995 as the Orange Prize for Fiction by a group of publishers, booksellers, journalists and agents, who felt that some of the biggest literary prizes often appeared to overlook wonderful writing by women. Since then, the £30,000 Prize has established itself as a highlight of the literary calendar, with the longlists, shortlists and winning books eagerly anticipated by male and female readers alike. The prize is awarded to the woman who, in the opinion of the judges (all female), has written the best, eligible full-length novel in English.
The longlist is usually announced in March, the shortlist in April and the winner in June.
Wellcome Book Prizes
The Wellcome Book Prize was set up in 2009 to stimulate interest and debate about medical science through books and reading. Any book on the topic published in the previous calendar year, whether fiction or non-fiction, is eligible, as are books translated from languages other than English. The prize for the winning author is £30,000.(Academic titles, picture books and diet books are not eligible)The longlist is typically announced in January, the shortlist in March and the winner in April 2019.
Costa Book Prizes
The Costa Book Awards honour some of the most outstanding books of the year written by authors based in the UK and Ireland. Launched in 1971 as the Whitbread Literary Awards,there are five categories - First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book - with one of the five winners chosen as Book of the Year.The announced at an awards ceremony in London every January. The Category Shortlists are normally in November, Category Winners announced in earlyJanuary followed Book of the Year announced later in January.
Jhalak Prize
Awarded annually, this prize seeks out the best books by British/British resident BAME writers and awards one winner £1,000. The prize is unique in that it accepts entries published in the UK by a writer of colour. Entries can be fiction, non-fiction, short story, graphic novel, poetry, children’s books, YA, teen and all genres. The prize is also open to self-published writers. The aim is the find the best writers of colour in the country. It was launched in 2017. Usually the Longlist is announced in January, the shortlist in February and the Winner in March.
Northern Book Prize
The newly established Northern Book Prize part of Northern Writers’ Awards which supports work-in-progress by new, emerging and established writers across the North of England. The annual prize awarded to an unpublished book-length work of ambitious literary fiction either written by a writer living in the North of England or by a writer who has a strong connection to the North. The prize awarded is valued at £5000.
British Book Awards
The British Book Awards or Nibbies honours and celebrates the commercial successes of publishers, authors and bookshops and was launched in 1990. Organised by The Bookseller, it culminates in the stand-out event of the publishing year, The British Book Awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House hotel.
In March, the short list for seven individual books of the year: Children’s; Debut fiction; Fiction; Crime; Thriller; Non-fiction: Lifestyle; Non-fiction: Narrative and AudioBook are announced. An overall Book of the Year is then chosen from the individual winners and is announced in May.
The Nobel Prize in Literature
This prize is awarded for a body of work, rather than just one book, and rewards an author who "shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction". The Nobel Laureates are usually announced in October.
Man Booker International Prize
This prize was created in its current form by the merging of the original Man Booker International Prize and the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. The original Man Booker International was awarded every two years to a writer of fiction for their body of work as a whole.
Book Prizes for Sports
The Sports Book Awards is the major annual promotion for sports writing and publishing, the awards exist to highlight the most outstanding sports books of the previous calendar year, to showcase their merits and to enhance their reputation and profile.Their are various prizes for the following categories: Autobiography of the Year, Biography of the Year, Cricket Book of the Year, Cycling Book of the Year, Football Book of the Year, Illustrated Book of the Year, International Autobiography of the Year, New Writer of the Year and Rugby Book of the Year.
The shortlist is usually announced in May with the Sports Book of the year announced in June.
The Caine Prize
The Caine Prize for African Writing is a of £10,000 literature prize awarded to an African writer of a short story published in English. The prize was launched in 2000 to encourage and highlight the richness and diversity of African writing by bringing it to a wider audience internationally.
The focus on the short story reflects the contemporary development of the African story-telling tradition. The prize is awarded in July.
The Orwell Prize
The Orwell Prize is Britain’s most prestigious prize for political writing. The Prize was established in 1994, ‘to encourage writing in good English – while giving equal value to style and content, politics or public policy, whether political, economic, social or cultural – of a kind aimed at or accessible to the reading public, not to specialist or academic audiences.’ Currently, they award three prizes:
- The Book Prize
- The Journalism Prize
- The Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils
The shortlists are usually announced in May and the Prize is awarded in June.
Wainwright Prize
The Wainwright Prize seeks to reward the best writing on the general outdoors, nature and UK-based travel writing(not guidebooks). It is awarded in association with The National Trust. A £5,000 prize fund is awarded to the winning book.The longlist announcement is normally on 5th June and the Shortlist Announcement on 2nd July
Local Book Awards
Many other boroughs run their own Book Awards, highlighting local authors and selecting the best books for their local communities. The selected books tackle local, national and international issues, create discussions and spark curiosity.Other local book awards that School Librarians are involved in local book awards all around the UK.
British Book Awards
The British Book Awards or Nibbies honours and celebrates the commercial successes of publishers, authors and bookshops. Organised by The Bookseller, it culminates in the stand-out event of the publishing year.The British Book Awards has been running since 1990 and announces seven individual books of the year: Children’s; Debut fiction; Fiction; Crime & Thriller; Non-fiction: Lifestyle; Non-fiction: Narrative and (new in 2018) AudioBook. An overall Book of the Year is then chosen from the individual winners.
Blue Peter Book Awards
The Blue Peter Book Awards recognise and celebrate the best authors, the most creative illustrators and the greatest reads for children.The Blue Peter Award has been running since 2000 and has the following categories:
Best Story
Best Book with Facts.
BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award
The BookTrust Lifetime Achievement Award is given to a children's writer or illustrator whose body of work, in the opinion of the panel of judges, merits recognition for a lifetime's achievement in children's literature.
BookTrust In Other Words prize (Children's fiction in translation)
In Other Words is a prize to promote the translation and UK publication of outstanding children's literature from around the world.
The Branford Boase Award
The BBA was set up on 2000 to reward the most promising new writers and their editors, as well as to reward excellence in writing and in publishing. The Award is made annually to the most promising book for seven year-olds and upwards by a first time novelist.
Carnegie Medal | Kate Greenaway Medal
The Carnegie Medal and Kate Greenaway Medal are awarded by CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, and was set up in 1936.The CILIP Carnegie Medal is awarded by children's librarians for an outstanding book written in English for children and young people. The CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal is awarded by children's librarians for an outstanding book in terms of illustration for children and young people. The longlist is announced in February, shortlists in March and the medal winners announced at a June ceremony.
Children's Book Award | Federation of Children's Book Groups
The Children’s Book Award is the only national award voted for solely by children from start to finish. It has been running since 1968.The categories are:• Younger Children (Picture Books)
• Younger Readers (age 6 – 11)
• Older Readers (age 10 – 18)
There are two voting stages: Full testing: this creates a Top 50 Pick of the Year, from which the Top Ten books are selected. Only Federation of Children’s Book Group members take part in this element of the award.
The award ceremony normally takes place in June.
Costa Children's Book Awards
The Costa Book Awards was launched in 1971. 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. It is the only prize which places children’s books alongside adult books in this way.Books are entered by publishers. The category Shortlists are normally Announced in
November. Category Winners are announced in January and the winner announced in January.
Guardian Children's Fiction Prize
The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award is a literary award that annually recognises one fiction book written for children or young adults (at least age eight) and published in the United Kingdom. It was established it in 1965 and inaugurated it in 1967. It is a lifetime award in that previous winners are not eligible. The shortlist of no more than four books and the winner are selected by three children's fiction writers, almost always including the latest winner. In recent years there is a longlist of eight books announced May or June, a shortlist of no more than four announced in September, the winner announced in November.
Klaus Flugge Prize for Children's Book Illustration
The Klaus Flugge Prize is awarded to most exciting newcomer to children’s picture book illustration. The shortlist of 6 books is usually announced in 9 June and the winner announced in September.
UK Literacy Association Book Awards
The unique UKLA Book Awards, established in 2008, are judged entirely by teachers and submitted by publishers. The Categories are for books for readers ages: 3-6, 7-11,12-16The longlists of 6 books is usually announced in September, shortlist is usually announced in March and the winner announced in July.
Waterstones Children's Book Prize
Waterstones Children's Book Prize is an annual award given to a new work of children's literature published during the previous year. First awarded in 2005, the three categories are: Illustrated Book, Fiction 5–12, and Teen.The shortlist is usually announced in February and the winner is announced in March.
eBooks
If the book you want in not in Libby from Overdrive or RB digital then here are a few places that you can find ebooks for free.
Hathi Trust
The Hathi Trust has a good selection of mainly out of copyright academic books but there is a small selection of fiction.
National Library of Australia
A small selection of out of copyright Australian books from the National Library of Australia
Digital Library of the Caribbean
Digital Library Caribbean has mostly historical eBooks but a small collection of fiction.Audiobooks
Audible
Paid service which requires a monthly subscription, wide selection of audiobooks. Original series also featured.Libre Vox
Wide selection of out of copyright books, read by volunteers. Narrator may change mid book and quality may vary.
London Literary Festival
The London Literature Festival focuses on the power of words and how this can change the world for the better. It takes place over two weeks, and concentrates on the themes of freedom, justice and democracy, we celebrate the optimism of the human spirit and the ability of the arts to celebrate and transform lives.Edinburgh International Book Festival
The Edinburgh International Book Festival programme offers hundreds of events featuring the greatest writers and thinkers in the world. From rising stars of fiction to Nobel Prize-winners, it's a place where audiences and authors gather to share ideas.
Hay Festival
Hay Festival brings readers and writers together to share stories and ideas in sustainable events around the world. The festivals inspire, examine and entertain, inviting participants to imagine the world as it is and as it might be. Nobel Prize-winners and novelists, scientists and politicians, historians and musicians talk with audiences in a dynamic exchange of ideas.
Africa Writes - Festival of African Literature
The Royal African Society’s festival showcases the best established and rising literary talent from Africa and its diaspora. With book launches, readings, discussions, performances workshops and seminars, this festival illuminates an area of literature that deserves much wider coverage. Great initiative.
Bocas Literary Festival
The NGC Bocas Lit Fest in April is Trinidad and Tobago’s premier annual literary festival: a lively celebration of books, writers, writing, and ideas, with a Caribbean focus and international scope. The Festival brings together readers and writers from Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean, and the wider world for a thrilling programme of readings, performances, workshops, discussions, film screenings, and more. There are various prizes, including:
- The OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature
- The Johnson and Amoy Achong Caribbean Writers Prize
- The CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature
- Bocas Henry Swanzy Award
Calabash Literary Festival
The Calabash Literary Festival is a three-day festival of readings and music with other forms of storytelling folded in the mix, Calabash is earthy, inspirational, daring and diverse. After 10 successive years, Calabash is now staged on biennial bases on even years. All festival events are free and open to the public. The mission of the Calabash International Literary Festival Trust is to transform the literary arts in the Caribbean by being the region's best-managed producer of workshops, seminars, and performances
Hong Kong International Literary Festival
The Hong Kong International Literary Festival (HKILF), founded in 2001, is an annual event held over 10 days, featuring established and emerging writers from around the world in a programme that includes discussions, literary lunches and dinners, workshops, lectures, debates, book signings, and readings.The Hong Kong International Literary Festival celebrates creative writing in English and emphasises writing with an Asian connection. The Festival features both established and emerging authors and includes works in translation, literary fiction and non-fiction, poetry and scriptwriting. The Festival unites authors and readers to promote the literary arts and a love of literature in Hong Kong.
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