Booksellers announce 2016 awards

The Booksellers Association of UK and Ireland (The BA) today announced the three winners of the 10th annual Independent Bookshop Week (IBW) Book Award 2016 are:

Adult Category - The Green Road by Anne Enright (Vintage).

Children’s Category - Pugs of the Frozen Northby Philip Reeve and Sarah McIntyre (Oxford University Press).

Children’s Picture Book Category - Stanley the Amazing Knitting Catby Emily MacKenzie (Bloomsbury Children's Books).

The Adult and Children’s category winners will now go through to a ‘Best of the Best’ shortlist alongside the previous winners of the IBW Book Award since its launch ten years ago. The Adult category will be chosen by independent booksellers and their customers, via instore voting cards that will list all previous IBW Book Award-winning titles in the Adult category, including the 2016 winner. Voting will begin on the first day of IBW, Saturday 18 June, and run until the end of July, with booksellers and their customers invited to choose their one favourite book from the list.

A separate judging panel comprising five children, who have been chosen from over 600 entries in a national competition with National Book Tokens’ Caboodle, will decide on the Children’s ‘Best of the Best’ award. The ‘Best of the Best’ winners will be announced in September.

Rosamund de la Hey, BA President and The Main Street Trading Company chaired the two separate judging panels which were made up of authors, booksellers and journalists. The shortlist for the Adult Category comprised ten titles, and the judges were Emma Healey, author, Elizabeth is Missing (shortlisted 2015); Claire Armitstead, The Guardian, Simon Heafield, Foyles; and Sue Lake, White Rose Bookshop.

Anne Enright, winner of the Adult Category, said: “Being in a good bookshop is like being inside someone’s mind, except that everything there is real, browsable, more interesting, somehow. It is such an honour to be selected for this award, by my favourite people - booksellers. Long may they remain!”

There were twelve titles on both the Children’s and Picture Book Award shortlists, which were judged this year by Nicolette Jones, Sunday Times; Sally Nicholls, author and 2015 winner; Steven Pryse, Pickled Pepper Bookshop; and Carrie Morris, Booka Bookshop.

PhilipReeve and Sarah McIntyre, winners of the Children’s Category, said: “We're thrilled to win the Independent Bookshop Week Children's Book Award! We'd like to thank all the independent bookshops, who have been amazingly supportive in hosting our events, displaying our book and recommending it to customers. Even comic book shops have stocked Pugs just because they love illustrated books; it's been incredible. Huge thanks to the judges and everyone who took part in organising the award. And we'd also like to thank the team at OUP, and the 66 pugs who dragged the sleds of our imaginations all the way to the North Pole.”

Emily MacKenzie, winner of the Children’s Picture Book Category, said: “I'm completely thrilled to have won this award for Stanley the Amazing Knitting Cat, a book that celebrates friendship, creativity and individuality – all the things I believe are at the heart of great independent bookshops! Thank you so much to the judges, and all of the independent booksellers who have supported, and hand-sold my books over the last year and a half. I love visiting independents because each shopping experience feels unique. Cosy and welcoming, I love that independent bookshops give you a glimpse into the personality and passions of the booksellers behind them. I always leave an independent bookshop with an unexpected find, feeling recharged and inspired, which is a wonderful thing. It means a great deal that Stanley the Amazing Knitting Cat is nestled in so many wonderful shops, waiting to be discovered by new readers!”

Chair of Judges, Rosamund de la Hey, BA President and The Main Street Trading Company, commented: “The shortlists were incredibly strong, and generated passionate, intelligent debate amongst all the judges who, after much discussion, chose brilliant winners for 2016. We have the added dimension this year of the ‘Best of the Best’, which will keep IBW Book Award front of mind with independent bookshops throughout IBW and beyond. On behalf of the BA, I would like to congratulate this year’s winners, and also thank publishers for their ongoing support.”

The IBW Book Award 2016 and the ‘Best of the Best’ campaign is again at the heart of IBW’s trade and consumer promotional activities, supported by via high quality POS including posters, bookmarks and leaflets, including a ‘Best of the Best’ poster featuring previous IBW Book Award winners. The IBW and BA websites carry full information about the shortlisted and winning titles.