Press
Press Release
09/16/2009
Judges Announced for 2009 Costa Book Awards
Costa, the UK's largest and fastest-growing coffee shop brand, today announces the judging panels for the 2009 Costa Book Awards.
They include actor and writer Neil Pearson; broadcaster and journalist Fiona Phillips; authors Sandra Howard and Sophie Hannah; writers William Nicholson and Ben Macintyre; and biographer and historian, Robert Lacey.
The full panels are listed below:
COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD
Nikki Bedi: Presenter, BBC Asian Network
Sandra Howard: Author
Matt Taylor: Owner, The Chepstow Bookshop
COSTA NOVEL AWARD
Sarah Clarke: Co-owner, The Torbay Bookshop
Rebecca Jones: Arts Correspondent, BBC
Neil Pearson: Actor and writer
COSTA BIOGRAPHY AWARD
Robert Lacey: Biographer and historian
Ben Macintyre: Writer and journalist
Caroline Mileham: Head of books, PLAY.com
COSTA POETRY AWARD
Tom Fleming: Deputy Editor, Literary Review
Chloe Garner: Director, Ledbury Poetry Festival
Sophie Hannah: Crime Fiction Writer and Poet
COSTA CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD
William Nicholson: Writer
Fiona Phillips: Broadcaster and journalist
Sue Steel: Co-owner, Simply Books
The judges' task now is to read through the total of 600 books entered for this year's Costa Book Awards.
They will then select shortlists and winners in their respective categories (First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book) and the five award winners will form the shortlist for the 2009 Costa Book of the Year, which will be announced at an awards ceremony in central London on Tuesday January 26th, 2010.
Last year's winner, The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry, went on to sell over 300,000 copies and became the fastest-selling book in the history of Faber and Faber.
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.
For additional information on this year's awards and category judges, 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
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 have the single aim of celebrating the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland and have five categories: Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book.
* The 2008 winner of the Costa Book of the Year was Sebastian Barry for The Secret Scripture (Faber and Faber).
About Costa:
* Costa was founded by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971.
* Costa Coffee was the first UK coffee shop chain to commit sourcing beans from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.
* 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.
* The Costa Foundation was set up in 2006 to give something back to the communities within the countries from which Costa sources its coffee beans. The Costa Foundation works with an independent charity partner, Charities Trust, and is operating under the auspices of Charities Trust's registered charity number 327489.
* Costa is part of the Whitbread family of brands.
* For more information, please go to http://www.costa.co.uk
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