Press

Press Release

10/01/2008
Competition to find member of public to join book prize Final Judging Panel

London, Tuesday 30th September 2008: Costa is offering one UK reader the chance to join the judging panel that decides the winner of the prestigious Costa Book of the Year.  This is the first time a major book prize has offered this opportunity to a member of the public.

The prize includes attending the final judging meeting in January 2009 with the nine other judging panel members to decide the Costa Book of the Year 2008. The winner will also attend the Costa Book Awards gala dinner and awards presentation.

From Wednesday 1st October 2008, the competition will be promoted throughout all of Costa's UK stores with entries submitted via www.costabookawards.com .

"The Costa Book Awards have an excellent track record of recognising and celebrating some of the very best current British writing, and books that can be enjoyed by everyone," said Kevin Hydes, Brand Marketing Manager at Costa. "One of the ways we've achieved this is by appointing judges who come from a variety of backgrounds but who all share a passion for reading - the most important prerequisite for our panel members." 

"This competition represents an exciting opportunity for the book-buying public to engage with the Book Awards as never before," he continues. "If you love books, have a passion for reading and like to express your opinions on both, then we want to hear from you."

The winner of the competition will join the Costa Book of the Year final judging panel which comprises a representative from each of the five category judging panels, and four people from outside the literary world who love reading, including a Chairman.

The competition is open to all UK adults aged 18 or over. To qualify for entry, entrants must submit a 300-word book review and a 500-word application setting out their suitability for the role. 

From the entries received, a shortlist of 12 will be selected. The 12 shortlisted entrants will then be invited to London to attend a book review debate presided over by author Joanna Trollope, Chairman of the 2007 final judging panel, from which one winner will be selected.   

The Costa Book Awards 2008 final judging panel will be revealed in December.

"This competition is very exciting because it has the sheer pleasure of reading at its core," commented Joanna Trollope. "I was thrilled to be asked to be involved and will be looking for entertaining opinions, articulate delivery and most importantly, a real, demonstrable passion for books and reading."

The closing date for entries is 31st October 2008. 

The Costa Book Awards, formerly the Whitbread Book Awards, were established in 1971 to encourage, promote and celebrate the best contemporary British writing and have the single aim of celebrating the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland. 

Since their inception, 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. The two most recent winners of the Costa Book of the Year are Stef Penney for The Tenderness of Wolves (2006) and A. L. Kennedy for Day (2007). 

For more information on this year's Costa Book Awards, go to www.costabookawards.com.

-ENDS-

 

For further press information please contact:
Amanda Johnson
Costa Book Awards Press and Publicity
Telephone: 07715 922180 (mobile)
Email:  amanda@amandajohnsonpr.com

 

Notes to Editors:

About the Costa Book Awards:


* The Costa Book Awards, formerly the Whitbread Book Awards, were established in 1971 to encourage, promote and celebrate the best contemporary British writing.
* The Costa Book Awards recognise the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland across five categories; First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book.
* 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 of the Costa Book of the Year 2008 will be announced at an awards ceremony at the Intercontinental Hotel, central London on Tuesday, January 27th 2009.
* The 2007 winner of the Costa Book of the Year was A.L. Kennedy for Day (Cape).

About Costa:


* Costa is now officially the largest and fastest growing coffee shop chain in the UK.  It opened its 1000th milestone store in March 2008 in Moscow.
* Costa was founded by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971.
* With 785 stores in the UK and over 300 internationally, Costa has enjoyed a remarkable period of growth since it opened its first store.  It now operates in 24 countries.
* Costa Coffee is the first UK coffee shop chain to commit sourcing Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee. 
* 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 has been voted as one of the strongest UK brands by experts and consumers and has been awarded 'Superbrand' status
* Costa set up a registered charity (no.327489) in 2006 called 'The Costa Foundation' to give something back to the communities within the countries from which Costa sources its coffee beans.
* Costa is part of the Whitbread family of brands.

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