Christchurch City Libraries lists literary prize winners and links to catalogue searches, but we may not hold copies of all titles mentioned.
The Costa Book Awards are some of the most prestigious British literary awards. They were launched in 1971 as the Whitbread Literary Awards, which became the Whitbread Book Awards in 1985. Costa Coffee took over sponsorship in 2006. The Award Winners from the Biography category receive £5,000. The 2021 Costa Book Awards held in February 2022 was the 50th and final awards. Visit the Costa Book Awards site for more information.
See the other Costa Book Awards category winners and all the other literary prize winners we list.
2021
- Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell John Preston Winner
- Free: Coming of Age at the End of History Lea Ypi
- Consumed: A Sister's story Arifa Akba
- The Moth and the Mountain: A True Story of Love, War and Everest Ed Caesar
2020
-
The Louder I Will Sing by Lee Lawrence Winner
- The Man in the Red Coat by Julian Barnes
- Dear Life by Rachel Clarke
- Ghost Town: A Liverpool Shadow Play by Jeff Young
2019
- The Volunteer: The True Story of the Resistance Hero who Infiltrated Auschwitz Jack Fairweather Winner
- On Chapel Sands: My mother and other missing persons Laura Cumming
- In Extremis: The Life of War Correspondent Marie Colvin Lindsey Hilsum
- The Making of Poetry: Coleridge, the Wordsworths and Their Year of Marvels Adam Nicolson
2018
-
The Cut Out Girl Bart van Es Winner
- To throw away unopened Viv Albertine
- The Salt Path Raynor Winn
- The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah: The Autobiography Benjamin Zephaniah
2017
- In the Days of Rain Rebecca Stott Winner
- Once Upon a Time in the East: A Story of Growing Up Xiaolu Guo
- A Bold and Dangerous Family: The Rossellis and the Fight Against Mussolini Caroline Moorehead
- Fragile Lives by Professor Stephen Westaby
2016
- Keggie Carew Winner
- Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years John Guy
- The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land In Between Hisham Matar
- I’m Not With the Band: A Writer’s Life Lost in Music Sylvia Patterson
Dadland: A Journey into Uncharted Territory2015
-
The invention of nature: the adventures of Alexander Von Humboldt, the lost hero of science Andrea Wulf Winner
- The story of Alice: Lewis Carroll and the secret history of Wonderland Robert Douglas-Fairhurst
- The house by the lake Thomas Harding
- John Aubrey: my own life Ruth Scurr
2014
-
H is for Hawk Helen Macdonald Winner (and Book of the year)
- Roy Jenkins: a well-rounded life John Campbell
- The iceberg: a memoir Marion Coutts
- Do no harm: stories of life, death and brain surgery Henry Marsh
2013
- The pike: Gabriele D’Annunzio, poet, seducer and preacher of war Lucy Hughes-Hallett Winner
- Empire Antarctica: ice, silence and Emperor Penguins Gavin Francis
- Hanns and Rudolf: the German Jew and the hunt for the Kommandant of Auschwitz Thomas Harding
- The trip to Echo Spring: why writers drink Olivia Laing
2012
-
Dotter of her father’s eyes Mary M. Talbot and Bryan Talbot Winner
- Patrick Leigh-Fermor: an adventure Artemis Cooper
- The crocodile by the door: the story of a house, a farm and a family Selina Guinness
- Serving Victoria: life in the Royal household Kate Hubbard
2011
Now all roads lead to France: the last years of Edward Thomas Matthew Hollis Winner
2010
The hare with amber eyes Edmund de Waal Winner
2009
The strangest man: the hidden life of Paul Dirac, quantum genius Graham Farmelo Winner
2008
Somewhere towards the end Diana Athill Winner
2007
Young Stalin Simon Sebag Montefiore Winner
2006
Keeping Mum Brian Thompson Winner
