Press
Press Release
01/02/2008
Costa Book Awards 2007 Category Winners Announced
* Catherine O'Flynn triumphs in the Costa First Novel Award category for What Was Lost
* A.L. Kennedy beats Rose Tremain to take the Costa Novel Award for Day
* Simon Sebag Montefiore scoops the Costa Biography Award for Young Stalin
London, 19.30pm 2nd January 2008: Costa, the UK's largest and fastest-growing coffee shop chain, today announces the Costa Book Awards 2007 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.
Originally established in 1971 by Whitbread PLC, Costa announced its takeover of the sponsorship of the UK's popular and prestigious book prize in 2006.
The five successful authors who will now contest for the 2007 Costa Book of the Year are:
* Catherine O'Flynn, the former postwoman who was rejected by 15 publishers, triumphs taking the Costa First Novel Award for her debut work, What Was Lost
* Scottish novelist and stand-up comedian, A.L. Kennedy, wins her first major literary prize with her fifth novel, Day
* Simon Sebag Montefiore wins the Costa Biography Award for his widely-acclaimed work, Young Stalin
* Jean Sprackland claims the 2007 Poetry Award for Tilt, acclaimed by the judges as "a great collection ..."
* Ann Kelley wins the Children's Book Award for The Bower Bird, a novel partly inspired by the premature death of her son, Nathan, from a congenital heart and lung condition
John Derkach, Managing Director, Costa said: "The Costa Book Awards are all about recognising great writing and a good read. 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 553 entries.The five books are now eligible for the ultimate prize - the 2007 Costa Book of the Year.
The winner will be selected by a panel of judges chaired by the bestselling author, Joanna Trollope and announced at an awards ceremony hosted by Mariella Frostrup at the Intercontinental Hotel in central London on Tuesday 22nd January 2008.
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. The 2006 Costa Book of the Year was won by Stef Penney for The Tenderness of Wolves.
The Finalists
Costa has created a bespoke book featuring the opening chapters of each of the five 2007 Costa Award-winning books in a collection entitled The Finalists. The book, which also includes the winning short story from a competition run in Woman & Home magazine sponsored by Costa Coffee, will be available in Costa outlets from 4th January 2008 at a retail price of ?2.00.
All proceeds from sales of The Finalists will go to the Costa Foundation, established to support and improve the social and economic welfare of Costa's 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 2007 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 Award Winners follow.
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2007 Costa Book Award Winners
Costa Novel Award
Day - A.L. Kennedy
Costa First Novel Award
What Was Lost - Catherine O'Flynn
Costa Biography Award
Young Stalin - Simon Sebag Montefiore
Costa Poetry Award
Tilt - Jean Sprackland
Costa Children's Book Award
The Bower Bird - Ann Kelley
Previous Books of the Year
2006 The Tenderness of Wolves Stef Penney (First Novel)
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)
2007 Costa Novel Award
Day by A.L. Kennedy
Jonathan Cape
About the book:
Alfred Day wanted his war. In its turmoil he found his proper purpose as the tail-gunner in a Lancaster bomber; he found the wild, dark fellowship of his crew, and he found Joyce, a woman to love. But that's all gone now - the war took it away. Now, in 1949, Alfred is winding back time to see where he lost himself. He has taken the role of an extra in a POW film. Shipped out to Germany and an ersatz camp, he picks his way through the clich?s that will become all that's left of his war and begins to do what he's never dared - to remember. He is looking for some semblance of hope: trying to move forward by going back.
About the author:
A.L. Kennedy is a novelist and stand-up comedian. She has published four previous novels, two books of non-fiction, and three collections of short stories, most recently Indelible Acts. She also writes for the stage, radio, film and TV. She has twice been selected as one of Granta's Best of Young British Novelists and has won a number of prizes including the Somerset Maugham Award, the Encore Award and the Saltire Scottish Book of the Year Award. A.L. Kennedy lives in Glasgow and is currently an Associate Professor with the Warwick University Creative Writing Programme.
What the judges said:
"Although it could have been any one of our shortlist of four, we chose A.L. Kennedy as our winner because, through an extraordinary act of ventriloquism, she describes the waste and eventual resurrection of a young life shattered by war. This book is a masterpiece."
Judges
Sam Leith Literary Editor, Daily Telegraph
Nigel Rees Writer and Broadcaster
Polly Samson Author and Lyricist
Shortlist, selected from a total of 150 entries:
Neil Bartlett Skin Lane Serpent's Tail
Rupert Thomson Death of a Murderer Bloomsbury
Rose Tremain The Road Home Chatto & Windus
Previous Novel Award winners include:
William Boyd Restless 2006
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
2007 Costa First Novel Award
What was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn
Tindal Street Press
About the book:
A lost little girl with her notebook and toy monkey appears on the CCTV screens of the Green Oaks shopping centre, evoking memories of junior detective, Kate Meaney, missing for 20 years. Kurt, a security guard with a sleep disorder and Lisa, a disenchanted deputy manager at Your Music, follow her through the centre's endless corridors - welcome relief from customers, colleagues and the Green Oaks mystery shopper. But, as this after-hours friendship grows in intensity, it brings new loss and new longing to light.
About the author:
Catherine O'Flynn was born in Birmingham in 1970 to Irish parents, The youngest of six children, she grew up in and around her parents' sweet shop. She has worked as a teacher, a web editor, a mystery customer and a postwoman. What Was Lost was rejected 15 times before being taken on by Birmingham-based publisher, Tindal Street Press. It has since been Radio 5 Live's Book of the Month, and been longlisted or shortlisted for literary awards including the Orange Prize and Man Booker. After a few years in Barcelona, Catherine now lives in Birmingham where she works in the box office of the local arts centre.
What the judges said:
"A formidable novel blending humour and pathos in a cleverly constructed and absorbing mystery. An extraordinary book and a superb first novel."
Judges:
Nic Bottomley General Manager of Mr B's Emporium of Reading Delights
Helen Lederer Actress and Writer
Sebastian Shakespeare Evening Standard columnist and diary editor
Shortlist, selected from a total of 80 entries:
Tahmima Anam A Golden Age John Murray
Nikita Lalwani Gifted Viking
Roma Tearne Mosquito Harper Press
Previous First Novel Award winners include:
Stef Penney The Tenderness of Wolves 2006
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
2007 Costa Biography Award
Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
About the book:
Stalin, like Hitler, remains the personification of evil but also one of the creators of today's world. Based on massive research and astonishing new evidence in archives from Moscow to Georgia, Young Stalin is a chronicle of the Revolution, a pre-history of the USSR and an intimate biography unveiling the shadowy, adventurous journey of the Georgian cobbler's son who was to become the Red Tsar.
About the author:
Simon Sebag Montefiore is a historian and writer. Born in 1965 and educated at Harrow School and Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge, he spent much of the nineties travelling through the ex-Soviet Empire, particularly the Caucasus, Ukraine and Central Asia, writing widely on Russia, especially for The Sunday Times, The New York Times and The Spectator. Young Stalin is the prequel and companion to Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar which won the History Book of the Year Prize at the 2004 British Book Awards. He has also published Catherine the Great & Potemkin, shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson, Duff Cooper and Marsh Biography Prizes, and 101 World Heroes; an illustrated selection of great men and women from history. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, novelist, and television presenter, Montefiore lives in London with his wife, the novelist Santa Montefiore, and their two children. He is currently writing Jerusalem: the Biography, a fresh history of the Middle East.
What the judges said:
"Everything you could ask for from a biography - exhaustive research, a compelling subject and a beautifully written narrative that will endure as a portrait of one of the towering figures of modern history."
Judges:
Danny Danziger Writer and Columnist
Emma Jepson Non-Fiction Buyer, Borders
Stephanie Merritt Journalist and novelist
Shortlist, selected from a total of 113 entries:
Julie Kavanagh Rudolf Nureyev Fig Tree
Ben Macintyre Agent Zigzag Bloomsbury
Michael Simkins Fatty Batter Ebury Press
Previous Biography Award winners include:
Brian Thompson Keeping Mum 2006
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
2007 Costa Poetry Award
Tilt by Jean Sprackland
Cape Poetry
About the book:
Jean Sprackland's third collection describes a world in freefall. Chaos and calamity are at our shoulder, in the shape of fire and flood, ice-storm and hurricane; trains stand still, zoos are abandoned, migrating birds lose their way - all surfaces are unreliable, all territories unmapped. These poems explore the ambivalence and dark unease of slippage and collapse, but also carry a powerful sense of the miraculous made manifest amongst the ordinary.
About the author:
Jean Sprackland was born and brought up in Burton-on-Trent and now lives in Southport, Merseyside. She studied English and Philosophy at the University of Kent at Canterbury, then taught for a number of years before beginning to write poetry aged 30. Her first collection of poetry, Tattoos for Mothers Day, was shortlisted for the Forward First Book Award in 1999. Her second collection, Hard Water, was published by Cape in 2003 and shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot Award and the Whitbread Poetry Award. In 2004, Jean Sprackland was named by the Poetry Book Society as one of the ?Next Generation' poets. She has held residencies in schools and universities, and is a tutor for the Arvon Foundation.
What the judges said:
"A great collection - crafted and delicate poems that tell us what it is to be alive now."
Judges:
Sion Hamilton Ground Floor Manager, Foyles
Vicki Feaver Poet and painter
Adam Phillips Psychoanalyst and writer
Shortlist, selected from a total of 72 entries:
Ian Duhig The Speed of Dark Picador
John Fuller The Space of Joy Chatto & Windus
Daljit Nagra Look We Have Coming to Dover! Faber & Faber
Previous Poetry Award winners include:
John Haynes Letter to Patience 2006
Christopher Logue Cold Calls 2005
Michael Symmons Roberts Corpus 2004
Don Paterson Landing Light 2003
Paul Farley The Ice Age 2002
2007 Costa Children's Book Award
The Bower Bird by Ann Kelley
Luath Press Ltd
About the book:
Gussie lives in Cornwall and, like most twelve-year-olds, is quickly growing up. She is also awaiting news of a heart transplant operation. When Gussie moves from the coast to a new house in town, she rebels, discovers her ancestors and an interest in photography, falls in love and has parent troubles - all whilst experiencing general adolescent angst and trying not to wait for what might never happen.
About the author:
Ann Kelley is a photographer and prize-winning poet who once nearly played cricket for Cornwall. She has previously published a collection of poems and photographs, a book of photos of St Ives families and an audio book of cat stories. She lives with her second husband and several cats on the edge of a cliff in Cornwall where they have survived a flood, a landslip and a lightning strike. The Bower Bird, Ann's second novel, is partly based on her first-born son, Nathan, who was born with a congenital heart and lung condition. He died 20 years ago at the age of 24, a week after a heart and lung transplant. Ann runs courses for aspiring poets at her home, writing courses for medics and medical students, and speaks about her poetry therapy work with patients at medical conferences.
What the judges said:
"The world of life and death, beauty and truth seen through the eyes of a 12 year old girl. A rare and beautiful book of lasting quality - we felt this is a voice that needs to be heard and read."
Judges:
David Almond Author
Marilyn Brocklehurst Proprietor, Norfolk Children's Book Centre
Julia Somerville Broadcaster and journalist
Isha Amin (Young Judge) First News competition winner
Amar Mann (Young Judge) First News competition winner
Shortlist, selected from a total of 138 entries:
Elizabeth Laird Crusade Macmillan Children's Books
Meg Rosoff What I Was Puffin
Marcus Sedgwick Blood Red Snow White Orion Children's Books
Previous Children's Book Award winners include:
Linda Newbery Set in Stone 2006
Kate Thompson The New Policeman 2005
Geraldine McCaughrean Not the End of the World 2004
David Almond The Fire-Eaters 2003
Hilary McKay Saffy's Angel 2002
For further press information or to arrange an interview with any of the winning authors, please contact:
Amanda Johnson
Costa Book Awards Press and Publicity
Telephone: 020 7751 2111 (direct line) or 07715 922180 (mobile)
Email: amanda@amandajohnsonpr.com
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.
* 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 Children's Book - each receive ?5,000.
* 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 Intercontinental Hotel, central London on 22nd January, 2008.
* 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 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 650 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.
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