Awards

Category Award Winners

One winner is selected in each of the five categories - Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book. Each category-winning author receives £5,000. 

Last year's Category Award Winners were:

2008 Costa First Novel Award Winner
Sadie Jones - The Outcast
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Judges: "This book's portrayal of pain makes it a riveting and heartbreaking read - it's rare for a first novel to be this assured."


2008 Costa Novel Award Winner
Sebastian Barry - The Secret Scripture
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Judges: "This exquisitely-written love story takes you on an unforgettable journey - you won't read a better book this year."


2008 Costa Biography Award Winner
Diana Athill - Somewhere Towards the End
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Judges: "A perfect memoir of old age - candid, detailed, charming, totally lacking in self-pity or sentimentality and, above all, beautifully, beautifully written."


2008 Costa Poetry Award Winner
Adam Foulds - The Broken Word
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Judges: "It is a rare achievement to write a poetry book that the reader simply can't put down.  Readers of poetry and fiction alike will be swept along by its chilling narrative."


2008 Costa Children's Book Award Winner
Michelle Magorian - Just Henry
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Judges: " This is a master storyteller at work with the sort of descriptive writing that is a joy to read. Just Henry is a soaring, uplifting warm bath of a book - a wonderful roller-coaster of a story which we all absolutely loved."

To see this year's Category Award Winners, click here