British Book Awards
The British Book Awards or Nibbies are literary awards for the best UK writers and their works, administered by The Bookseller. The awards have had several previous names, owners and sponsors since being launched in 1990, including the National Book Awards from 2010 to 2014.
Book award history
The British Book Awards, or Nibbies, ran from 1990 to 2009 and were founded by the editor of Publishing News. The awards were then acquired by Agile Marketing, which renamed them the National Book Awards and called them the Galaxy National Book Awards and later the Specsavers National Book Awards after their headline sponsors. There were no National Book Awards after 2014; in 2017 the awards were acquired by The Bookseller from the estate of Publishing News founder, Fred Newman, and renamed back to the British Book Awards or Nibbies.In 2018, a Specsavers National Book Awards ceremony was held on 20 November but was unrelated to the Nibbies.
In 2005, The Bookseller launched a separate scheme, The Bookseller Retail Awards. In 2010, running parallel to the National Book Awards, The Bookseller unified The Nibbies with its retail awards to produce The Bookseller Industry Awards.
The awards are known as the Nibbies because of the golden nib-shaped trophy given to winners.
Name history
- 1990–2009: British Book Awards
- 2010–2011: Galaxy National Book Awards
- 2012–2014: Specsavers National Book Awards
- 2015–2016: no awards
- 2017–Pres: British Book Awards
Award winners (recent)
2025 Books of the Year
received the Freedom to Publish Award at the 35th British Book Awards on May 12, 2025, in London. In her videotaped acceptance comments, the Canadian author reflected on current threats to free expression, noting she couldn't remember a time "when words themselves felt under such threat" due to increasing political polarization, and urged publishers and booksellers to have courage in defending free expression.| Overall Book of the Year | Author of the Year | Illustrator of the year |
| ||
| Fiction Book of the Year | Debut Book of the Year | Crime and Thriller Book of the Year |
| Non-fiction: Narrative Book of the Year | Non-fiction: Lifestyle and Illustrated | Page-turner of the Year |
| Children's Fiction Book of the Year | Children's Non-fiction Book of the Year | Children's Illustrated Book of the Year |
| Discover Book of the Year | Non-fiction Audiobook of the Year | Fiction Audiobook of the Year |
2024 Books of the Year
The shortlisted nominees were announced on 8 March 2024. Once again the in-person ceremony was livestreamed. Katherine Rundell was named Author of the Year, the first time that a children's writer received the accolade since Philip Pullman in 2018. In the run up to the awards ceremony, a daily podcast featuring nominated authors was made available online.| Overall Book of the Year | Author of the Year | Illustrator of the year |
| ||
| Fiction Book of the Year | Debut Book of the Year | Crime and Thriller Book of the Year |
| Non-fiction: Narrative Book of the Year | Non-fiction: Lifestyle and Illustrated | Page-turner of the Year |
| Children's Fiction Book of the Year | Children's Non-fiction Book of the Year | Children's Illustrated Book of the Year |
| Discover Book of the Year | Non-fiction Audiobook of the Year | Fiction Audiobook of the Year |