2016 Costa Book Awards Category Winners Announced

Posted on January 4, 2017

The 2016 Costa Book Awards category winners have been announced. The British book award was launched in 1971 as the Whitebread Literary Awards. Costa took over the award in 2006.

There are five categories. Each of the category winners will receive £5,000. They are also each in the running for the Book of the Year award, which carries a cash prize of £30,000. The Book of the Year winner will be announced on January 31, 2017 at an awards ceremony in London.

Here are the five category winners:

First Novel: Golden Hill by Francis Spufford
Novel: Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
Biography: Dadland: A Journey into Uncharted Territory by Keggie Carew
Poetry: Falling Awake by Alice Oswald
Children's Book: The Bombs That Brought Us Together by Brian Conaghan

The judges call First Novelist category winner Francis Spufford a "bold, invigorating new voice in fiction." They say Days Without End by Sebastian Barry is a "miracle of a book - both epic and intimate." The judge said they were in awe of Alice Oswald's poetry collection and wrote, "We were all in awe of this book - please read it!"

The Guardian that the winners are all baby boomers. Costa also runs a separate short story award. You can find more about the awards on the Costa Book Awards site.