The Costa Book Awards

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 were 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 2021 Costa Book Awards held in February 2022 was the 50th and final awards. 

The Award winners from the five categories - Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book - each received £5,000.

The overall Costa Book of the Year is selected from the five category Award winners, with the winner receiving a further £30,000. Visit the Costa Book Awards site for more information.

See more literary prize winners.

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