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News & Reviews
WORD:
Novelists Lively, Nicholson make 2009 Costa Book Awards shortlist
Edited Press Release
UK coffee shop chain Costa announced that Penelope Lively, Hilary Mantel, Christopher
Nicholson and Colm
Tóibin
were among the novelists shortlisted for the 2009 Costa Book Awards.
The annual award recognizes the most enjoyable books published in the
last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland.
Originally
established in 1971 by Whitbread Plc, Costa announced its takeover of
the sponsorship of the UK's most prestigious book prize in 2006. In
addition to best novel, other categories include awards for best first
novel, poetry, biography, and children's author.
This year's Costa Book Awards attracted 592 entries -- the second
highest-ever number of submissions in one year. Judges on this year’s
panels (three per category) included actor and writer Neil Pearson; broadcaster and
journalist Fiona Phillips;
authors Sandra Howard and Sophie Hannah; writers William Nicholson and Ben Macintyre; and biographer and
historian, Robert Lacey.
Winners in the five categories, who each receive £5,000, will be
announced on Tuesday 5th January 2010. The overall winner of the Costa
Book of the Year 2009 will receive £25,000 and will be selected
and announced at the Costa Book Awards ceremony in central London on
Tuesday 26th January 2010.
Since the introduction of the Book of the Year award in 1985, it has
been won nine times by a novel, four times by a first novel, five times
by a biography, five times by a collection of poetry and once by a
children's book. The 2008 Costa Book of the Year was won by Sebastian
Barry for The Secret Scripture.
To be eligible for the 2009 Costa Book Awards, books must have been
first published in the UK or Ireland between 1 November 2008 and 31
October 2009.
2009 Costa Novel Award shortlist
Penelope Lively for Family Album (Fig Tree)
Hilary Mantel for Wolf Hall (Fourth Estate)
Christopher Nicholson for The Elephant Keeper (Fourth Estate)
Colm Tóib?n for Brooklyn (Viking)
2009 Costa First Novel Award
shortlist
Rachel Heath for The Finest Type of English Womanhood (Hutchinson)
Peter Murphy for John the Revelator (Faber and Faber)
Raphael Selbourne for Beauty (Tindal Street Press)
Ali Shaw for The Girl with Glass Feet (Atlantic Books)
To see the full 2009 Costa Book Award shortlists in five categories and
other information check out their website.
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