Costa Book Awards

{{Short description|Former annual literary awards}} {{Use British English|date=October 2019}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Infobox award |name=Costa Book Awards |former name=Whitbread Book Awards |presenter=Costa Coffee |awarded_for=English-language books by writers based in the UK and Ireland |year={{Start date and age|1971}} |year2={{end date and age|2021}} |country=United Kingdom and Ireland |image=File:Costa_Book_Awards_logo_2019.png }}

The '''Costa Book Awards''' were a set of annual literary awards recognising English-language books by writers based in UK and Ireland. Originally named the '''Whitbread Book Awards''' from 1971 to 2005 after its first sponsor, the Whitbread company, then a brewery and owner of pub-restaurant chains, it was renamed when Costa Coffee, then a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship.<ref name="costa-winners" /><ref name="costa-shortlists" /> The companion '''Costa Short Story Award''' was established in 2012.<ref name="flood" /> Costa Coffee was purchased by the Coca-Cola Company in 2018. The awards were discontinued in 2022.<ref name=barnett />

The awards were given both for high literary merit and for works that were enjoyable reading, and their aim was to convey the enjoyment of reading to the widest possible audience. As such, they were considered a more populist literary prize than the Booker Prize, which also limited winners to literature written in the English language and published in the UK and Ireland.

Awards were separated into six categories: Biography, Children's Books, First Novel, Novel, Poetry, and Short Story.

In 1989, there was controversy when the judges first awarded the Best Novel prize to Alexander Stuart's ''The War Zone'', then withdrew the prize prior to the ceremony amid acrimony among the judges, ultimately awarding it to Lindsay Clarke's ''The Chymical Wedding''.

==History== The 1989 Whitbread Book Award for Best Novel was first awarded to ''The War Zone'' by Alexander Stuart.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2000-01-11-0001100496-story.html|title=The Wrath of Roth|date=11 January 2000|publisher=Sun Sentinel |first1=Laura |last1=Kelly |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210701152847/https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/fl-xpm-2000-01-11-0001100496-story.html |archive-date=1 July 2021 |url-status=dead}}</ref> However, juror Jane Gardam felt the book was "repellent" and appealed directly to the Whitbread company, arguing that awarding the prize to Stuart's novel would make them into a "laughing stock".<ref>"The War Zone Diary", page 222 of the War Zone, Stuart, Alexander, ISBN 0385249535, Doubleday, 1989</ref> After ten days, and leaking the story to the press, the other two jurors, David Cook and Val Hennessy, were persuaded to change their minds, and Lindsay Clarke's ''The Chymical Wedding'' won the award instead. Both Cook and Hennessy found the experience so unpleasant they vowed to never sit in an award jury again.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/entertainment/books/1989/12/10/book-report/990f71cb-527b-41e5-8339-6efc6e131c18/ |title=Book Report |url-access=subscription |date=10 December 1989 |author1=David Streitfeld |newspaper=The Washington Post |place=Washington, D.C. |issn=0190-8286 |oclc=1330888409 }}</ref>

The awards were discontinued in 2022, with the 2021 awards being the last ones made.<ref name="barnett">{{cite news |last1=Barnett |first1=David |title=Costa book awards scrapped suddenly after 50 years |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/10/costa-book-awards-scrapped-suddenly-after-50-years |access-date=3 March 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=10 June 2022}}</ref><ref name="armitstead">{{cite news |last1=Armitstead |first1=Claire |title=Shock ending: how the Costa book awards changed reading – and pitted husband against wife |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jun/23/shock-ending-how-costa-book-awards-changed-reading |access-date=3 March 2023 |work=The Guardian |date=23 June 2022}}</ref> Just one month later, the Blue Peter Book Award was also discontinued; this left only three widely recognized awards for UK children's literature (the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, the Carnegie Medal, and the Kate Greenaway Medal).<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jul/06/childrens-books-world-reacts-to-horrible-loss-of-blue-peter-book-awards | title=Children's books world reacts to 'horrible loss' of Blue Peter book awards | website=TheGuardian.com | date=6 July 2022 |first1=Sarah |last1=Shaffi |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230529045811/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/jul/06/childrens-books-world-reacts-to-horrible-loss-of-blue-peter-book-awards |archive-date= May 29, 2023 }}</ref>

==Process== There were five book award categories. These had not been changed since the Poetry Award was introduced in 1985, although the children's category had been termed "children's novel" or "children's book of the year".<ref name=costa-winners/><ref name=costa-shortlists/> The categories are:

* Novel * First novel * Children's book * Poetry * Biography

Each of the five winning writers received £5,000. The prize required a £5,000 fee from publishers if a book was to be shortlisted.<ref name=kean/>

===Short stories=== The short story award was established in 2012 with a prize of £3,500 for the first, £1,000 for the second and £500 for the third.<ref name="criteria">{{Cite web |url=http://www.costa.co.uk/media/430282/tscs.pdf |title=The Costa Short Story Award terms and conditions of entry |publisher=Costa |access-date=24 November 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161125044044/http://www.costa.co.uk/media/430282/tscs.pdf |archive-date=25 November 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The winning story was determined by public vote from a shortlist of six that were selected by a panel of judges. The process was "blind" at both stages for the unpublished entries were anonymous until the conclusion.<ref name=flood/><ref name=flood2/>

In the inaugural year, the six short story finalists were exposed anonymously online while the public vote was underway, two months before the winner was to be announced.<ref name=flood2/>

==Winners==

'''Bold font''' and blue ribbon ({{blue ribbon}}) distinguish the overall Costa/Whitbread Book of the Year.<ref name=costa-winners/>

For lists that include shortlisted entries (where available), please see: * Costa Book Award for Novel * Costa Book Award for First Novel * Costa Book Award for Children's Book * Costa Book Award for Poetry * Costa Book Award for Biography * Costa Book Award for Short Story

=== List of award winners === {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;" |- ! scope="col" style="width: 60px;" rowspan="2" |Year !colspan="6"|Award ! scope="col" style="width: 60px;" rowspan="2" |Notes & Refs |- !width="170"|Novel

!width="170"|First novel

!width="170"|Children's book

!width="170"|Poetry

!width="170"|Biography

!width="170"|Short story |- |align="left"|1971 |align="left"|Gerda Charles ''The Destiny Waltz'' |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="left"|Geoffrey Hill ''Mercian Hymns'' |align="left"|Michael Meyer ''Henrik Ibsen'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1972 |align="left"|Susan Hill ''The Bird of Night'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Rumer Godden ''The Diddakoi'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|James Pope-Hennessy ''Anthony Trollope'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1973 |align="left"|Shiva Naipaul ''The Chip-Chip Gatherers'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Alan Aldridge and William Plomer ''The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|John Wilson ''CB: A Life of Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1974 |align="left"|Iris Murdoch ''The Sacred and Profane Love Machine'' |align="left"|Claire Tomalin ''The Life and Death of Mary Wollstonecraft'' |align="left"|Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake ''How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen'' Jill Paton Walsh ''The Emperor's Winding Sheet'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Andrew Boyle ''Poor Dear Brendan'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1975 |align="left"|William McIlvanney ''Docherty'' |align="left"|Ruth Spalding ''The Improbable Puritan: A Life of Bulstrode Whitelocke'' |align="center"|— |align="center"|— |align="left"|Helen Corke ''In Our Infancy'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1976 |align="left"|William Trevor ''The Children of Dynmouth'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Penelope Lively ''A Stitch in Time'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Winifred Gerin ''Elizabeth Gaskell'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1977 |align="left"|Beryl Bainbridge ''Injury Time'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Shelagh Macdonald ''No End to Yesterday'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Nigel Nicolson ''Mary Curzon'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1978 |align="left"|Paul Theroux ''Picture Palace'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Philippa Pearce ''The Battle of Bubble & Squeak'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|John Grigg ''Lloyd George: The People's Champion'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1979 |align="left"|Jennifer Johnston ''The Old Jest'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Peter Dickinson ''Tulku'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Penelope Mortimer ''About Time'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1980 |align="left"|'''David Lodge ''How Far Can You Go''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="center"|— |align="left"|Leon Garfield ''John Diamond'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|David Newsome ''On the Edge of Paradise: A. C. Benson, Diarist'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1981 |align="left"|Maurice Leitch ''Silver's City'' |align="left"|William Boyd ''A Good Man in Africa'' |align="left"|Jane Gardam ''The Hollow Land'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Nigel Hamilton ''Monty: The Making of a General'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1982 |align="left"|John Wain ''Young Shoulders'' |align="left"|Bruce Chatwin ''On the Black Hill'' |align="left"|W. J. Corbett ''The Song of Pentecost'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Edward Crankshaw ''Bismarck'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1983 |align="left"|William Trevor ''Fools of Fortune'' |align="left"|John Fuller ''Flying to Nowhere'' |align="left"|Roald Dahl ''The Witches'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Victoria Glendinning ''Vita'' Kenneth Rose ''King George V'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1984 |align="left"|Christopher Hope ''Kruger's Alp'' |align="left"|James Buchan ''A Parish of Rich Women'' |align="left"|Barbara Willard ''The Queen of the Pharisees' Children'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Peter Ackroyd ''T. S. Eliot'' |align="left"|Diane Rowe ''Tomorrow is our Permanent Address'' |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1985 |align="left"|Peter Ackroyd ''Hawksmoor'' |align="left"|Jeanette Winterson ''Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit'' |align="left"|Janni Howker ''The Nature of the Beast'' |align="left"|'''Douglas Dunn ''Elegies''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Ben Pimlott ''Hugh Dalton'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1986 |align="left"|'''Kazuo Ishiguro ''An Artist of the Floating World''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Jim Crace ''Continent'' |align="left"|Andrew Taylor ''The Coal House'' |align="left"| Peter Reading ''Stet'' |align="left"|Richard Mabey ''Gilbert White'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1987 |align="left"|Ian McEwan ''The Child in Time'' |align="left"|Francis Wyndham ''The Other Garden'' |align="left"|Geraldine McCaughrean ''A Little Lower than the Angels'' |align="left"|Seamus Heaney ''The Haw Lantern'' |align="left"|'''Christopher Nolan ''Under the Eye of the Clock''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1988 |align="left"|Salman Rushdie ''The Satanic Verses'' |align="left"|'''Paul Sayer ''The Comforts of Madness''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Judy Allen ''Awaiting Developments'' |align="left"|Peter Porter ''The Automatic Oracle'' |align="left"|A. N. Wilson ''Tolstoy'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1989 |align="left"|Lindsay Clarke ''The Chymical Wedding'' |align="left"|James Hamilton-Paterson ''Gerontius'' |align="left"|Hugh Scott ''Why Weeps the Brogan'' |align="left"|Michael Donaghy ''Shibboleth'' |align="left"|'''Richard Holmes ''Coleridge: Early Visions''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1990 |align="left"|'''Nicholas Mosley ''Hopeful Monsters''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Hanif Kureishi ''The Buddha of Suburbia'' |align="left"|Peter Dickinson ''AK'' |align="left"|Paul Durcan ''Daddy, Daddy'' |align="left"|Ann Thwaite ''AA Milne – His Life'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1991 |align="left"|Jane Gardam ''The Queen of the Tambourine'' |align="left"|Gordon Burn ''Alma Cogan'' |align="left"|Diana Hendry ''Harvey Angell'' |align="left"|Michael Longley ''Gorse Fires'' |align="left"|'''John Richardson ''A Life of Picasso''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1992 |align="left"|Alasdair Gray ''Poor Things'' |align="left"|'''Jeff Torrington ''Swing Hammer Swing!''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Gillian Cross ''The Great Elephant Chase'' |align="left"|Tony Harrison ''The Gaze of the Gorgon'' |align="left"|Victoria Glendinning ''Trollope'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1993 |align="left"|'''Joan Brady ''Theory of War''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Rachel Cusk ''Saving Agnes'' |align="left"|Anne Fine ''Flour Babies'' |align="left"|Carol Ann Duffy ''Mean Time'' |align="left"|Andrew Motion ''Philip Larkin: A Writer's Life'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1994 |align="left"|'''William Trevor ''Felicia's Journey''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Fred D'Aguiar ''The Longest Memory'' |align="left"|Geraldine McCaughrean ''Gold Dust'' |align="left"|James Fenton ''Out of Danger'' |align="left"|Brenda Maddox ''D H Lawrence: The Married Man'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1995 |align="left"|Salman Rushdie ''The Moor's Last Sigh'' |align="left"|'''Kate Atkinson ''Behind the Scenes at the Museum''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Michael Morpurgo ''The Wreck of the Zanzibar'' |align="left"|Bernard O'Donoghue ''Gunpowder'' |align="left"|Roy Jenkins ''Gladstone'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1996 |align="left"|Beryl Bainbridge ''Every Man for Himself'' |align="left"|John Lanchester ''The Debt to Pleasure'' |align="left"|Anne Fine ''The Tulip Touch'' |align="left"|'''Seamus Heaney ''The Spirit Level''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Diarmaid MacCulloch ''Thomas Cranmer: A Life'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1997 |align="left"|Jim Crace ''Quarantine'' |align="left"|Pauline Melville ''The Ventriloquist's Tale'' |align="left"|Andrew Norriss ''Aquila'' |align="left"|'''Ted Hughes ''Tales from Ovid''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Graham Robb ''Victor Hugo'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|1998 |align="left"|Justin Cartwright ''Leading the Cheers'' |align="left"|Giles Foden ''The Last King of Scotland'' |align="left"|David Almond ''Skellig'' |align="left"|'''Ted Hughes ''Birthday Letters''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Amanda Foreman ''Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Posthumous Book of the Year Award |- |align="left"|1999 |align="left"|Rose Tremain ''Music and Silence'' |align="left"|Tim Lott ''White City Blue'' |align="left"|J.K. Rowling ''Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban'' |align="left"|'''Seamus Heaney ''Beowulf: A New Verse Translation''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|David Cairns ''Berlioz Volume Two: Servitude and Greatness'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2000 |align="left"|'''Matthew Kneale ''English Passengers''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Zadie Smith ''White Teeth'' |align="left"|Jamila Gavin ''Coram Boy'' |align="left"|John Burnside ''The Asylum Dance'' |align="left"|Lorna Sage ''Bad Blood – A Memoir'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2001 |align="left"|Patrick Neate ''Twelve Bar Blues'' |align="left"|Sid Smith ''Something Like A House'' |align="left"|'''Philip Pullman ''The Amber Spyglass''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Selima Hill ''Bunny'' |align="left"|Diana Souhami ''Selkirk's Island'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2002 |align="left"|Michael Frayn ''Spies'' |align="left"|Norman Lebrecht ''The Song of Names'' |align="left"|Hilary McKay ''Saffy's Angel'' |align="left"|Paul Farley ''The Ice Age'' |align="left"|'''Claire Tomalin ''Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2003 |align="left"|'''Mark Haddon ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|DBC Pierre ''Vernon God Little'' |align="left"|David Almond ''The Fire-Eaters'' |align="left"|Don Paterson Landing Light (poetry collection) |align="left"|DJ Taylor ''Orwell: The Life'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2004 |align="left"|'''Andrea Levy ''Small Island''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Susan Fletcher ''Eve Green'' |align="left"|Geraldine McCaughrean ''Not the End of the World'' |align="left"|Michael Symmons Roberts ''Corpus'' |align="left"|John Guy ''My Heart Is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2005 |align="left"|Ali Smith ''The Accidental'' |align="left"|Tash Aw ''The Harmony Silk Factory'' |align="left"|Kate Thompson ''The New Policeman'' |align="left"|Christopher Logue ''Cold Calls'' |align="left"|'''Hilary Spurling ''Matisse the Master''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2006 |align="left"|William Boyd ''Restless'' |align="left"|'''Stef Penney ''The Tenderness of Wolves''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Linda Newbery ''Set in Stone'' |align="left"|John Haynes ''Letter to Patience'' |align="left"|Brian Thompson ''Keeping Mum'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2007 |align="left"|'''A.L. Kennedy ''Day''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Catherine O'Flynn ''What Was Lost'' |align="left"|Ann Kelley ''The Bower Bird '' |align="left"|Jean Sprackland ''Tilt'' |align="left"|Simon Sebag Montefiore ''Young Stalin'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2008 |align="left"|'''Sebastian Barry ''The Secret Scripture''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Sadie Jones ''The Outcast'' |align="left"|Michelle Magorian ''Just Henry'' |align="left"|Adam Foulds ''The Broken Word'' |align="left"|Diana Athill ''Somewhere Towards the End'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2009 |align="left"|Colm Tóibin ''Brooklyn'' |align="left"|Raphael Selbourne ''Beauty'' |align="left"|Patrick Ness ''The Ask and the Answer'' |align="left"|'''Christopher Reid ''A Scattering''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Graham Farmelo ''The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2010 |align="left"|Maggie O'Farrell ''The Hand That First Held Mine'' |align="left"|Kishwar Desai ''Witness the Night'' |align="left"|Jason Wallace ''Out of Shadows'' |align="left"|'''Jo Shapcott ''Of Mutability''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Edmund de Waal ''The Hare with Amber Eyes'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2011 |align="left"|'''Andrew Miller ''Pure''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Christie Watson ''Tiny Sunbirds Far Away'' |align="left"|Moira Young ''Blood Red Road'' |align="left"|Carol Ann Duffy ''The Bees'' |align="left"|Matthew Hollis ''Now All Roads Lead to France: The Last Years of Edward Thomas'' |align="center"|— |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2012 |align="left"|'''Hilary Mantel ''Bring up the Bodies''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Francesca Segal ''The Innocents'' |align="left"|Sally Gardner ''Maggot Moon'' |align="left"|Kathleen Jamie ''The Overhaul'' |align="left"|Mary Talbot and Bryan Talbot ''Dotter of Her Father's Eyes'' |align="left"|Avril Joy ''Millie and Bird'' |align="left"|<ref name=short>[http://www.costa.co.uk/costa-book-awards/costa-short-story-award/ "Costa Short Story Award"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140215050344/http://www.costa.co.uk/costa-book-awards/costa-short-story-award/ |date=15 February 2014 }}. Costa Book Awards. Retrieved 2014-02-03.</ref> |- |align="left"|2013 |align="left"|Kate Atkinson ''Life after Life'' |align="left"|'''Nathan Filer ''The Shock of the Fall''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Chris Riddell ''Goth Girl and the Ghost of a Mouse'' |align="left"|Michael Symmons Roberts ''Drysalter'' |align="left"| Lucy Hughes-Hallett ''The Pike'' |align="left"|Angela Readman ''The Keeper of the Jackalopes'' |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2014 |align="left"|Ali Smith ''How to Be Both'' |align="left"|Emma Healey ''Elizabeth is Missing'' |align="left"|Kate Saunders ''Five Children on the Western Front'' |align="left"|Jonathan Edwards ''My Family and Other Superheroes'' |align="left"|'''Helen Macdonald ''H is for Hawk''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Zoe Gilbert ''Fishskin, Hareskin'' |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2015 |align="left"|Kate Atkinson ''A God in Ruins'' |align="left"|Andrew Michael Hurley ''The Loney'' |align="left"|'''Frances Hardinge ''The Lie Tree''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Don Paterson ''40 Sonnets'' |align="left"|Andrea Wulf ''The Invention of Nature'' |align="left"|Danny Murphy ''Rogey'' |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2016 |align="left"|'''Sebastian Barry ''Days Without End''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Francis Spufford ''Golden Hill'' |align="left"|Brian Conaghan ''The Bombs That Brought Us Together'' |align="left"|Alice Oswald ''Falling Awake'' |align="left"|Keggie Carew ''Dadland: A Journey into Uncharted Territory'' |align="left"|Jess Kidd ''Dirty Little Fishes'' |align="left"| |- |align="left"|2017 |align="left"|Jon McGregor ''Reservoir 13'' |align="left"|Gail Honeyman ''Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine'' |align="left"|Katherine Rundell ''The Explorer'' |align="left"|'''Helen Dunmore ''Inside the Wave''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Rebecca Stott ''In the Days of Rain'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|Posthumous Book of the Year Award<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.costa.co.uk/media/487568/2017-awards.pdf|title=Costa Book Awards 2017|publisher=Costa Book Awards|date=January 2018|access-date=2018-01-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180103073040/https://www.costa.co.uk/media/487568/2017-awards.pdf|archive-date=2018-01-03|url-status=dead}}</ref> |- |align="left"|2018 |align="left"|Sally Rooney ''Normal People'' |align="left"|Stuart Turton ''The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle'' |align="left"|Hilary McKay ''The Skylarks' War'' |align="left"|J. O. Morgan ''Assurances'' |align="left"|'''Bart van Es ''The Cut Out Girl: A Story of War and Family, Lost and Found''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="center"|— |align="left"|<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/1gF4PfT74lbBGG8tdXvnCc5/the-cut-out-girl-by-bart-van-es-named-costa-book-of-the-year-2018|title=Costa Book Awards 2018: the category award winners are...|publisher=BBC|date=January 2019|access-date=2019-01-08}}</ref> |- |align="left"|2019 |align="left"|Jonathan Coe ''Middle England'' |align="left"|Sara Collins ''The Confessions of Frannie Langton'' |align="left"|Jasbinder Bilan ''Asha & the Spirit Bird'' |align="left"|Mary Jean Chan ''Flèche'' |align="left"|'''Jack Fairweather ''The Volunteer''''' {{blue ribbon}}<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/costa-book-year-won-fairweathers-volunteer-1176911 |title=Costa Book of the Year won by Fairweather's The Volunteer |last=Chandler |first=Mark |date=28 January 2020 |work=The Bookseller |access-date=28 January 2020 }}</ref> |align="center"|— |align="left"|<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/costa-book-awards-2019-winners-revealed-1.4131655 |title=Costa Book Awards 2019 winners revealed |last=Doyle |first=Martin |date=6 January 2020 |newspaper=The Irish Times |access-date=28 January 2020 |language=en}}</ref> |- |align="left"|2020 |align="left"|'''Monique Roffey ''The Mermaid of Black Conch: A Love Story'''''{{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|Ingrid Persaud ''Love After Love'' |align="left"|Natasha Farrant ''Voyage of the Sparrowhawk'' |align="left"|Eavan Boland ''The Historians'' |align="left"|Lee Lawrence ''The Louder I Will Sing'' |align="left"|Tessa Sheridan ''The Person Who Serves, Serves Again'' |align="left"|<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-55816858|title=Costa Book of the Year: 'Utterly original' Mermaid of Black Conch wins|publisher=BBC|date=January 2021|access-date=2021-02-03}}</ref> |- |align="left"|2021 |align="left"|Claire Fuller, ''Unsettled Ground'' |align="left"|Caleb Azumah Nelson, ''Open Water'' |align="left"|Manjeet Mann, ''The Crossing'' |align="left"|'''Hannah Lowe, ''The Kids''''' {{blue ribbon}} |align="left"|John Preston, ''Fall: The Mystery of Robert Maxwell'' |align="center"|— |align="left"|<ref>{{Cite web|title=Costa Book Awards 2021 category winners announced|url=https://costanewsroom.vuelio.co.uk/press/press-releases/a657bbca-30fd-4330-81e0-3976bcc4a5ba/costa-book-awards-2021-category-winners-announced|access-date=2022-01-05|website=Costa}}</ref> |- ! style="width: 60px" rowspan="1"|Year

!width="120"|Novel

!width="120"|First novel

!width="120"|Children's book

!width="120"|Poetry

!width="120"|Biography

!width="120"|Short story !width="120"|Notes & Refs |- |align="center" colspan="30" style="font-size: 8pt"| "—" not awarded this year |- |}

==References== <references> <ref name=costa-winners>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.costa.co.uk/media/300231/CBA-Past-Winners-2015-Version.pdf |title=CBA Past Winners 2015 Version |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915193952/http://www.costa.co.uk/media/300231/CBA-Past-Winners-2015-Version.pdf |archive-date=15 September 2015 |website=Costa Book Awards |access-date=12 September 2015}}</ref> <ref name=costa-shortlists>{{cite web |url-status=dead |url=http://www.costa.co.uk/media/300267/CBA-Past-Shortlists-2015-Version.pdf |title=CBA Past Shortlists 2015 Version |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151124012436/http://www.costa.co.uk/media/300267/CBA-Past-Shortlists-2015-Version.pdf |archive-date=24 November 2015 |website= Costa Book Awards |access-date=12 September 2015}}</ref>

<ref name=flood> {{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/jul/17/costa-short-story-award |date=17 July 2012 |author=Alison Flood |title=Costa's new short story award to be judged anonymously |work=The Guardian |access-date=17 July 2012}}</ref> <ref name=flood2> Alison Flood (28 November 2012). [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/nov/28/costa-short-story-prize-public-vote?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487 "Costa short story prize to be decided by public vote"]. Alison Flood. 28 November 2012. Retrieved 14 December 2012.</ref>

<ref name=kean> {{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/jan/02/on-eve-of-costa-awards-experts-warn-that-top-books-prizes-are-harming-fiction |author=Danuta Kean |title=On eve of Costa awards, experts warn that top books prizes are harming fiction |work=The Guardian |date=2 January 2017 |access-date=27 November 2018 |quote="The biggest three prizes, including the Costas, require a £5,000 fee from publishers if a book is shortlisted. This is a contribution towards marketing and should, the organisers claim, be offset by increases in sales."}}</ref> </references>

==External links== {{Commons category}} *{{official website}} *{{Guardian topic}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20060924201700/http://www.thebookstandard.com/bookstandard/news/author/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002612415 Injecting Caffeine Into the Whitbread (Now Costa) Book Awards] at ''The Book Standard''

Category:Costa Book Awards  Category:1971 establishments in the United Kingdom Category:Awards established in 1971 Category:Awards disestablished in 2022 Category:English-language literary awards Category:2022 disestablishments in the United Kingdom