LONDON, UK – BBC News journalist and broadcaster, Reeta Chakrabarti, will chair the final judging panel which selects the overall winner of the prestigious 2021 Costa Book of the Year. The Costa Book Awards is the only major UK book prize open solely to authors resident in the UK and Ireland and uniquely recognises some of the most enjoyable books published in the last year across five categories – First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book – published in the last year.
2021 marks the 50th year of the Awards. Originally established in 1971, Costa Coffee has been running the UK’s most prestigious book prize since 2006.
The final nine-member panel that selects the overall Costa Book of the Year is made up of a Chairman, a judge from each category panel and three other well-known people in the public eye who love reading.
Alongside Reeta Chakrabarti, the panel this year includes: former Scottish international tennis player and British Fed Cup Team Captain Judy Murray, who has also appeared on Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity MasterChef; broadcaster and Editor in Chief of The Frank Magazine, Melanie Sykes, who is best known for presenting Today with Des and Mel with Des O’Connor, Let’s Do Lunch with Gino D’Acampo and Shop Well for Less on BBC1 and award-winning writer, broadcaster and journalist Damian Barr, who hosts The Big Scottish Book Club and Shelf Isolation on the BBC and who created the Literary Salon in 2008.
Reeta Chakrabarti said: ‘What a complete honour it is to be Chair of Judges for the Costa Book of the Year, particularly in the 50th anniversary year of the Awards. The prize has for decades recognised the best in storytelling, whether that is in fiction, poetry, or biography – and by seasoned writers or dazzling newcomers. We all need stories – sometimes just for escapism, but also to help make sense of our own lives and the world around us, and perhaps never more so than in these uncertain times. Reading well-written, crafted work is a huge pleasure, and I so relish the prospect of helping to choose the 2021 Costa Book of the Year.’
The five category judging panels are represented by novelist, memoirist and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo (First Novel), author Jessie Burton (Novel), novelist, biographer and journalist Andrew Wilson (Biography), poet and copywriter Rishi Dastidar (Poetry) and author Smriti Halls (Children’s Book).
The winner of Costa Book of the Year will be announced at an awards ceremony hosted by Penny Smith on Tuesday 1st February 2022.
Former final judges have included Stephen Mangan, Angellica Bell, Prue Leith, Graham Norton, Kate Humble, Fern Britton, Robert Peston, Professor Kate Williams, Sir Trevor McDonald, Meera Syal, Dame Diana Rigg, Sharleen Spiteri, Jane Asher, Richard Osman, Jenny Agutter, Elizabeth McGovern, David Morrissey, Rosamund Pike, Gary Kemp, Erin O’Connor, Alex James, Emilia Fox, Marie Helvin, Michael Morpurgo, Hugh Grant, Caroline Quentin, Ralph Fiennes, Jerry Hall, Ian Hislop, Art Malik, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Jonathan Ross, Floella Benjamin, Sian Williams, Ben Miler, Anneka Rice, , Professor Suzannah Lipscomb and Kirsty Young.
Former winners of the Book of the Year include Monique Roffey (2020), Jack Fairweather (2019), Bart van Es (2018), Helen Dunmore (2017), Sebastian Barry (who in 2016 became the first novelist ever to win the overall Book of the Year twice), Frances Hardinge (2015), Helen Macdonald (2014), Nathan Filer (2013), Hilary Mantel (2012), Andrew Miller (2011), Jo Shapcott (2010), Christopher Reid (2009), Sebastian Barry (2008), A.L. Kennedy (2007), Stef Penney (2006), Hilary Spurling (2005), Andrea Levy (2004), Mark Haddon (2003), Kate Atkinson (1995), Philip Pullman, Seamus Heaney and the late Ted Hughes.
Each of the five category award-winning authors receives £5,000 and the author of the overall Costa Book of the Year will be presented with a cheque for £30,000.
The winner of the Costa Short Story Award – now in its tenth year and voted for by the public – will also be announced at the ceremony.
For more information, visit: www.costabookawards.com.
