Press
Press Release
01/09/2007
Costa Book Awards 2006 Category Winners Announced
Costa Book Awards 2006 Category Winners Announced
* William Boyd's Restless triumphs in the Costa Novel Award category
* Stef Penney takes the Costa First Novel Award for The Tenderness of Wolves
*Poet John Haynes beats Seamus Heaney to collect the 2006 Costa Poetry Award for Letter to Patience
*Costa launches The Finalists - a collection of opening chapters from the five 2006 Costa award-winning books
London, 19.30pm 9th January 2006: Costa, the UK's fastest-growing coffee shop chain, today announces the Costa Book Awards 2006 winners in the Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book categories.
The Costa Book Awards recognise the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland. Formerly known as the Whitbread Book Awards, Costa announced its takeover of the sponsorship of the UKs most prestigious book prize in 2006.
The five successful authors who will now contest for the Costa Book of the Year are:
William Boyd who, after winning the First Novel Award in 1981 for A Good Man in Africa, returns 25 years later to claim the Novel Award for Restless
Former film-maker Stef Penney wins the First Novel Award for The Tenderness of Wolves, a murder mystery set in the snowy peaks of Canada, a country she has never visited
Brian Thompson wins the Biography Award for Keeping Mum, a witty account of his own childhood which the judges called the perfect antidote to the "misery memoir"
John Haynes beats Seamus Heaney to take the 2006 Poetry Award for Letter to Patience, set in a small mud-walled bar in northern Nigeria at a time of political unrest
Linda Newbery, a former Whitbread Book of the Year judge, triumphs in the Childrens Book Award category with Set in Stone
John Derkach, Managing Director, Costa said: "Since 1971, the Whitbread Book Awards, now the Costa Book Awards, have been unique in highlighting some of the best examples of British writing. We're very proud to be announcing such an outstanding collection of books which we know people will enjoy reading."
The five Costa Book Award winners, each of whom will receive ?5,000, were selected from 580 entries, the highest total ever received in one year. The five books are now eligible for the ultimate prize - the 2006 Costa Book of the Year.
The winner will be announced at the Grosvenor House Hotel in central London on Wednesday 7th February 2007 by a panel of judges chaired by the comedy writer and director, Armando Iannucci.
Since the introduction of the Book of the Year award in 1985, it has been won seven times by a novel, three times by a first novel, five times by a biography, five times by a collection of poetry and once by a childrens book.
The Finalists
To mark the first year as sponsor of the Book Awards, Costa has created a bespoke book featuring the opening chapters of each of the five 2006 Costa Award-winning books in a collection entitled The Finalists. The book will be available in Costa outlets from 11th January 2007 at a retail price of 1.00.
All proceeds from sales of The Finalists will go to The Costa Foundation, established to support and improve the social and economic welfare of Costas coffee suppliers in developing countries.
"We wanted to give our customers just enough of the five winning books to enjoy with a cup of Costa coffee," added John Derkach. "The Finalists not only celebrates our five 2006 category winning authors but also offers Costa the chance to introduce great writing to wider audiences and whet our customers appetite for more enjoyable reading."
For additional information go to www.costabookawards.com
Full details of the category winners follow.
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2006 Costa Book Award Winners
Costa Novel Award Restless - William Boyd
Costa First Novel Award - The Tenderness of Wolves - Stef Penney
Costa Biography Award - Keeping Mum - Brian Thompson
Costa Poetry Award - Letter to Patience - John Haynes
Costa Childrens Book Award - Set in Stone - Linda Newbery
Previous Books of the Year
2005 - Matisse: the Master - Hilary Spurling - Biography
2004 - Small Island - Andrea Levy - Novel
2003 - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon - Novel
2002 - Samuel Pepys:The Unequalled Self - Claire Tomalin - Biography
2001 - The Amber Spyglass - Philip Pullman - Children's Book
2000 - English Passengers - Matthew Kneale - Novel
1999 - Beowulf - Seamus Heaney - Poetry
1998 - Birthday Letters - Ted Hughes - Poetry
1997 - Tales from Ovid - Ted Hughes - Poetry
1996 - The Spirit Level - Seamus Heaney - Poetry
1995 - Behind the Scenes at the Museum - Kate Atkinson - First Novel
1994 - Felicia's Journey - William Trevor - Novel
1993 - Theory of War - Joan Brady - Novel
1992 - Swing Hammer Swing! - Jeff Torrington - First Novel
1991 - A Life of Picasso - John Richardson - Biography
1990 - Hopeful Monsters - Nicholas Mosley - Novel
1989 - Coleridge: Early Visions - Richard Holmes - Biography
1988 - The Comforts of Madness - Paul Sayer - First Novel
1987 - Under the Eye of the Clock - Christopher Nolan - Biography
1986 - An Artist of the Floating World - Kazuo Ishiguro - Novel
1985 Elegies - Douglas Dunn - Poetry
2006 Costa Novel Award
Restless by William Boyd
Bloomsbury
About the book:
During the long, hot summer of 1976, Ruth Gilmartin discovers that her very English mother Sally is really Eva Delectorskaya, a Russian migre and one-time spy. In 1939, Eva is a beautiful 28-year-old living in Paris. As war breaks out, she is recruited for the British Secret Service by Lucas Romer, a mysterious, patrician Englishman. Under his tutelage she learns to become the perfect spy, to mask her emotions and trust no one.
About the author:
William Boyd was born in Accra, Ghana and is the author of eight previous novels, many of which have won prizes - including A Good Man in Africa which won the Whitbread First Novel Award in 1981. A former television critic for the New Statesman, Boyd is also a scriptwriter. Some thirteen of his screenplays have been filmed and in 1998 he both wrote and directed the feature film, The Trench. William Boyd lives in London and was awarded the CBE in 2005.
What the judges said:
"Restless remains in the mind long after you finish it. Its scenes of wartime tension, the smell of espionage and the consequences of deceitful lives. Double cross, double bluff - all written with effortless clarity resulting in an unputdownable read."
Judges
Kate Adie Author and Broadcaster
Susie Dent Writer and Broadcaster on Language
Mike Gayle Author and Journalist
Shortlist, selected from a total of 134 entries:
Neil Griffiths - Saving Caravaggio - Viking
Mark Haddon - A Spot of Bother - Jonathan Cape
David Mitchell - Black Swan Green - Sceptre
Previous Novel Award winners include:
Ali Smith - The Accidental - 2005
Andrea Levy - Small Island - 2004
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - 2003
Michael Frayn Spies - 2002
2006 Costa First Novel Award
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
Quercus
About the book:
1867, Canada. As winter tightens its grip on the isolated settlement of Dove River, a man is brutally murdered and a seventeen-year-old boy disappears. Tracks leaving the dead mans cabin head north towards the forest and the tundra beyond. In the wake of such violence, people are drawn to the township journalists, Hudsons Bay Company men, trappers, traders but do they want to solve the crime, or exploit it?
About the author:
Stef Penney grew up in Edinburgh and studied at Bristol University before turning to film-making. She was selected for the Carlton Television New Writers Scheme and has since written and directed two short films. On leaving university, Stef became agoraphobic and could barely travel. She has never been to Canada and researched The Tenderness of Wolves at The British Library. Now recovered, Stef is 37 and lives in East London.
What the judges said:
"The Tenderness of Wolves stood out from a very strong shortlist. We felt enveloped by the snowy landscape and gripped by the beautiful writing and effortless story-telling. It is a story of love, suspense and beauty. We couldnt put it down."
Judges:
Alyson Rudd Writer, The Times
Sophie Kinsella Author
Andrew McClellan Fiction Buyer, WH Smith
Shortlist, selected from a total of 90 entries:
Michael Cox - The Meaning of Night - John Murray
Marilyn Heward Mills - Cloth Girl - Little, Brown
James Scudamore - The Amnesia Clinic - Harvill Secker
Previous First Novel Award winners include:
Tash Aw - The Harmony Silk Factory - 2005
Susan Fletcher - Eve Green - 2004
DBC Pierre - Vernon God Little - 2003
Norman Lebrecht - The Song of Names - 2002
2006 Costa Biography Award
Keeping Mum by Brian Thompson
Atlantic Books
About the book:
Mum and Dad - Squibs and Bert were a complete mystery to Brian Thompson as he grew up in Cambridge and London during the 1940s. His mother danced with the Yanks all night and slept under a fake fur coat all day. When his father bothered to come home, he resolutely discouraged Brian in everything. Other children were evacuated out of the big cities, but Brian found himself travelling into the capital. He spent much of the Blitz with an eccentric swarm of relations whose geography was the street, the pub, the market and two or three useful tramlines. Brian was snatched from his working-class roots by the Butler Act of 1944 and given an education that would lead to Cambridge University, books, pipe-smoking and rose trellises.
About the author:
Brian Thompson was born in Lambeth, London in 1935. He undertook national service in Kenya and taught in secondary and adult education for 15 years. Since 1973 he has written for a living as a radio and television playwright and documentary film-maker. He is also the author of several acclaimed biographies and seven stage plays. He currently lives in Oxford.
What the judges said:
"This vivid, life-affirming and deftly-written book is a perfect antidote to the 'misery memoir'. We defy anyone not to enjoy it."
Judges:
Hazel Broadfoot Co-Owner, Village Books (Dulwich)
Sean OHagan Writer, The Observer
Francis Wheen Author and Biographer
Shortlist, selected from a total of 149 entries:
Maggie Fergusson - George Mackay Brown: The Life - John Murray
John Stubbs - Donne: A Reformed Soul - Viking
Jo Tatchell - Nabeels Song - Sceptre
Previous Biography Award winners include:
Hilary Spurling - Matisse: the Master - 2005
John Guy - My Heart is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots - 2004
DJ Taylor - Orwell: The Life - 2003
Claire Tomalin - Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self - 2002
2006 Costa Poetry Award
Letter to Patience by John Haynes
Seren
About the book:
Set in Patience Parlour, a small mud-walled bar in northern Nigeria, at a time of political unrest, Letter to Patience is a vividly atmospheric book-length poem divided into cantos. The letter writer is in Britain, where he has returned with his Nigerian wife and children to nurse his dying father. The poem is not only a biography, or an essay on post-colonialism, it is an epic portrayal of a beautiful and troubled country and of one mans search for meaning in difficult times.
About the author:
John Haynes spent 1970 to 1988 as a lecturer in English at Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria where he founded the literary journal, Saiwa. Now back in the UK, he has continued teaching, writing and publishing and is the author of a number of books: on teaching, on style and language theory, on African poetry, stories for African children, as well as two other volumes of verse. He has won prizes in the Arvon and National Poetry Competitions.
What the judges said:
"John Haynes Letter to Patience was the judges unanimous choice and a clear winner; a unique long poem of outstanding quality, condensing a lifetime of reflection and experience into a work of transporting momentum, imaginative lucidity, and consummate formal accomplishment."
Judges:
Elaine Feinstein Poet and Author
Jeremy Noel-Tod Critic and Editor
Deryn Rees-Jones Writer
Shortlist, selected from a total of 75 entries:
Vicki Feaver - The Book of Blood - Jonathan Cape
Seamus Heaney - District and Circle - Faber and Faber
Hugo Williams - Dear Room - Faber and Faber
Previous Poetry Award winners include:
Christopher Logue - Cold Calls -2005
Michael Symmons Roberts Corpus - 2004
Don Paterson - Landing Light - 2003
Paul Farley - The Ice Age - 2002
2006 Costa Childrens Book Award
Set in Stone by Linda Newbery
David Fickling Books
About the book:
When nave and impressionable artist Samuel Godwin accepts the position of tutor to the daughters of wealthy Ernest Farrow, he does not suspect that hes walking into a web of deception. He is drawn to the lives of the three young women who live at Fourwinds: Charlotte Agnew, the governess; demure Julianna, the elder daughter; and younger sister, Marianne, passionate, wilful and erratic. Yet its not only the people who entrance Samuel. The house, Fourwinds, is an inspiring piece of architecture that looms large in the lives of those who encounter it. It is not long before Samuel and Charlotte uncover secrets that are both horrifying and dangerous to all...
About the author:
Linda Newbery was born in 1952 and brought up in Romford, Essex. The author of more than twenty books for children and adults, Linda also reviews fiction for the Times Educational Supplement and other publications, and tutors courses for writers of all ages. Linda lives with her husband and three cats in rural Northamptonshire.
What the judges said:
"As beautifully crafted as one of the statues adorning the house in the story, this emotionally charged narrative will thrill all lovers of intelligent fiction."
Judges:
Geraldine Brennan Books Editor, TES
Adle Geras Novelist and Childrens Writer
Brian Pattinson Proprietor, The Book House (Thame)
Nancy Netherwood (Young Judge) CBBC Newsround, Presspacker
Nathan Sutton (Young Judge) CBBC Newsround, Presspacker
Shortlist, selected from a total of 132 entries:
David Almond - Clay - Hodder Childrens Books
Julia Golding - The Diamond of Drury Lane - Egmont Press
Meg Rosoff - Just In Case - Puffin
Previous Childrens Book Award winners include:
Kate Thompson - The New Policeman - 2005
Geraldine McCaughrean - Not the End of the World - 2004
David Almond - The Fire-Eaters - 2003
Hilary McKay - Saffys Angel - 2002
Notes for Editors:
The Costa Book Awards, formerly the Whitbread Book Awards, were established in 1971 to encourage, promote and celebrate the best contemporary British writing.
2. The total prize fund for the Costa Book Awards stands at 50,000. The award winners from the five categories - Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Childrens Book - each receive 5,000.
3. The overall Costa Book of the Year is selected from the five category Award winners with the winner receiving a further 25,000. The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony at the Grosvenor House Hotel, central London on 7th February, 2007.
About Costa:
Costa, founded by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971, is the UKs market leading coffee shop brand. With over 500 stores in the UK and a further 150 stores overseas, Costa has enjoyed a remarkable period of growth since it opened its first store, and is currently the fastest growing coffee shop chain in the UK.
Costas in-store baristas are all coached in the art of coffee making at the companys unique Costa Coffee Academy. The Academy is based at its own roastery in Lambeth, London - where Costas coffee beans are slow roasted using a traditional Italian method to give the smooth distinctive, Costa flavour.
As pioneers of cafe culture in the UK, Costa inspired the creation of popular and convenient concessions stores in locations such as Waterstones and WH Smiths bookstores, and BAA outlets. A welcome respite for shoppers to relax, unwind and enjoy a revitalising cup of coffee crafted the Italian way.
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