Press

Press Release

09/18/2007
Key dates for the Costa Book Awards 2007

KEY DATES FOR THE COSTA BOOK AWARDS 2007

The Costa Book Awards have the single aim of celebrating the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland.

Originally established in 1971 by Whitbread Plc, Costa, the UK's fastest-growing coffee shop chain, announced its takeover of the sponsorship of the UK's most prestigious book prize in 2006.

 

Since 1971, the awards have recognised a wide range of books and authors across all genres, and the Costa Book Awards is the only book prize to use a category system that includes First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book.

 

Since the introduction of the Book of the Year award in 1985, it has been won seven times by a novel, four times by a first novel, five times by a biography, five times by a collection of poetry and once by a children's book. 

Venue:
Costa Coffee is pleased to announce that the second Costa Book Awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday 22nd January 2008 at the Intercontinental Hotel in central London.

Entries:
The 15 category judges* are now reading between them the 550 books submitted for this year's Costa Book Awards. This year's entries have seen the highest-ever submissions in both the novel and children's categories, with 150 and 138 entries respectively. 

The panels then select shortlists and winners in their respective categories (First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book) and the five award winners form the shortlist for the 2007 Costa Book of the Year, to be announced at an awards ceremony in January 2008.
 
Key Dates:
Key dates for the Costa Book Awards 2007 are:

Shortlist Announcement:
Wednesday 21st November 2007
Shortlists announced for:                   

  • Costa First Novel Award
  • Costa Novel Award
  • Costa Biography Award
  • Costa Poetry Award
  • Costa Children's Book Award

Final Judging Panel Announcement: 
Mid December 2007 (date tbc)

Category Winner Announcement:
Wednesday 3rd January 2008
Winners announced for:                    

  • Costa First Novel Award
  • Costa Novel Award
  • Costa Biography Award
  • Costa Poetry Award
  • Costa Children's Book Award

Costa Book of the Year Awards Ceremony
The awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday 22nd January 2008 where the Costa Book of the Year 2007 will be announced.

- ENDS-

___________________________________________________________________

For further press information please contact:
Amanda Johnson at the Costa Book Awards
Telephone: 07715 922 180 (mobile)
Email:  amanda@amandajohnsonpr.com  

Notes to Editors
* A full list of the 15 category judges can be found at http://www.costabookawards.com/

  • To be eligible for the 2007 awards, books must have been first published in the UK or Ireland between 1 November 2006 and 31 October 2007.
  • The total prize fund for the Costa Book Awards is ?50,000
  • The 2006 winner of the Costa Book of the Year was Stef Penney for The Tenderness of Wolves (Quercus).

About Costa:

  • Costa is officially the largest and fastest growing coffee shop brand in the UK.
  • Costa was founded by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971.  With 600 stores in the UK and over 200 internationally, Costa has enjoyed a remarkable period of growth since it opened its first store.  It now operates in 22 countries.
  • Costa's in-store baristas are all coached in the art of coffee making at the company's unique Costa Coffee Academy based at its own roastery in Lambeth, London.
  • Costa won the 2007 award for Best International Franchise Operator.
  • Costa is part of the Whitbread family of brands.

Return to previous page
_