Move over Bill & Ag
Posted by: Kaite Stover
William Shakespeare and Agatha Christie will probably never lose their crowns as two of England’s most favorite authors. But the Costa Book Awards is making sure there are others waiting in the wings.
The Costa Book Awards began as the Whitbread Literary Awards in 1971 but changed over in 2006 when Costa Coffee took over management of the awards.
Awards are given in Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book. From these five a Book of the Year winner is selected. This award is the only literary award that places books for children on the same level as books for adults.
A look at previous winners will show that many book club favorites have been tops with British readers and this year should be no exception. The awards were announced on January 25. The short list can be seen here, and these are the category award winners:
Novel Award: Maggie O’Farrell The Hand That First Held Mine
First Novel Award: Kishwar Desai, Witness the Night
Biography: Edmund de Waal, The Hare With Amber Eye
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Poetry: Jo Shapcott, Of Mutability
Childrens Book: Jason Wallace, Out of Shadows
And who took home the grand prize? Jo Shapcott and her collection of poems, Of Mutability, many of which were inspired by her recent experiences with breast cancer. Perhaps this collection would make for interesting discussion in October?
