The British Book Awards, also known as the Nibbies, are awards given to the best writers and their books from the United Kingdom. These awards are managed by The Bookseller. Since they began in 1990, the awards have changed names, owners, and sponsors over time. From 2010 to 2014, they were called the National Book Awards.
Book award history
The British Book Awards, also called the Nibbies, were created in 1990 by the editor of Publishing News. The awards were later bought by Agile Marketing, which changed the name to the National Book Awards. From 2010 to 2011, the awards were called the Galaxy National Book Awards, and from 2012 to 2014, they were named the Specsavers National Book Awards after their main sponsors. No National Book Awards were held after 2014. In 2017, The Bookseller took over the awards from the estate of Fred Newman, the founder of Publishing News, and renamed them back to the British Book Awards or Nibbies.
In 2018, a ceremony for the Specsavers National Book Awards was held on November 20, but it was not connected to the Nibbies.
In 2005, The Bookseller started a separate program called The Bookseller Retail Awards (winners are not listed here). In 2010, while the National Book Awards were still running, The Bookseller combined the Nibbies with its retail awards to create The Bookseller Industry Awards (winners are not listed here).
The name "Nibbies" comes from the golden nib-shaped trophy given to award winners.
Name history
- From 1990 to 2009: British Book Awards
- From 2010 to 2011: Galaxy National Book Awards
- From 2012 to 2014: Specsavers National Book Awards
- From 2015 to 2016: There were no book awards given during this time
- From 2017 to the present: British Book Awards
Award winners (recent)
Three new categories were added for the 2026 awards: Graphic Novels, Romantic Fiction, and Science Fiction & Fantasy. These two new categories replaced the existing Pageturner category.
Margaret Atwood received the Freedom to Publish Award at the 35th British Book Awards on May 12, 2025, in London. In her videotaped speech, the Canadian author talked about threats to free expression. She said she could not remember a time when words felt so endangered because of growing political differences. She encouraged publishers and booksellers to protect free expression.
The shortlisted nominees were announced on 8 March 2024. The ceremony was again livestreamed. Katherine Rundell was named Author of the Year. This was the first time a children's writer won this honor since Philip Pullman in 2018. A daily podcast featuring nominated authors was available online before the awards.
The shortlisted nominees were announced on 17 March 2023. The ceremony was again livestreamed. In 2023, the Non-fiction: Lifestyle Book of the Year category was expanded to include Illustrated books.
Salman Rushdie received a special Freedom to Publish honor. This is only the second time this award has been given by the British Book Awards. Previously, in 2022, it was awarded to HarperCollins UK and its publishing director Arabella Pike for defending authors against interference from Russian oligarchs and for supporting investigative non-fiction and publishing in the public interest.
The shortlisted nominees were announced on 25 March 2022. This year marked the return to a live awards ceremony since 2019, but the event was also broadcast as a livestream.
A new category, Discover Book of the Year, was introduced in 2022. It aimed to highlight authors who are often underrepresented, with a focus on independent presses and imprints. Also new that year, the Children's Awards were split into non-fiction, illustrated, and fiction categories. The Audiobook of the Year award was also split into Fiction and Non-fiction categories.
The shortlisted nominees were announced on 19 March 2021. Due to the ongoing restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony was held online. It took place on 13 May 2021 at the Battersea Arts Centre in London.
In 2020, a new award category was added: Page-turner of the Year.
The shortlisted nominees were announced on 20 March 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the live event planned for 18 May 2020 was canceled. The ceremony was held online in June 2020. This year’s ceremony was named Event of the Year at the 2020 Independent Publisher Awards.
To celebrate the Nibbies’ 30th anniversary in 2020, a special award called "30 from 30" was created. A longlist of 30 previous winners was narrowed down by public vote to a shortlist of 10 nominees, plus a wildcard entry: This Is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay.
In 2020, the Nibbies had a notable year. Except for illustrator Axel Scheffler, who won with his longtime co-creator Julia Donaldson, all authorial honors went to women. The Book of the Year and Author of the Year categories also had their first-ever Black winners.
The shortlisted nominees were announced on 22 March 2019. The awards were simplified into two divisions: Books of the Year (the Nibbies) and The Trade Awards.
In 2019, the Children's Book of the Year category was split into two: Children's Fiction Book of the Year and Children's Illustrated and Non-fiction Book of the Year. This year, Michelle Obama’s memoir Becoming won two awards.
The shortlisted nominees were announced on 16 March 2018. The awards included four divisions: Books of the Year (the Nibbies), Great People, Bringing Books to Readers, and Publishing Success.
In 2018, new categories were added: Author of the Year and Illustrator of the Year. Audiobook of the Year and an award for Overall Book of the Year were also reintroduced after being removed in 2017. This year, the Children's Book of the Year category had a joint winner.
The shortlisted nominees were announced on 15 March 2017 at the London Book Fair. The awards included four divisions: Books of the Year (the Nibbies), Great People, Bringing Books to Readers, and Publishing Success. For the first Nibbies since 2014, the ceremony was expanded. Crime and Thriller titles regained their own category, previously called Crime Thriller of the Year and changed to Thriller and Crime Novel of the Year in 2011. Non-fiction was split into Narrative and Lifestyle. The Newcomer of the Year / New Writer of the Year award was renamed Debut Book of the Year. The Popular Fiction award, which had been renamed Popular Fiction Book of the Year in 2010, was renamed simply Fiction Book of the Year in 2017.
1990–2016
Before 2010, the Best award had only one winner. Beginning in 2010, the Best was selected by the public through online voting among the winning books in other categories. This category was brought back in 2018.
This award was previously called British Children's Book of the Year. It was renamed Children's Book of the Year in 2010.
This award was previously called Popular Fiction Award. It was changed to Popular Fiction Book of the Year in 2010 and later to Fiction Book of the Year in 2017.
- 2016 – (no award)
- 2015 – (no award)
- 2014 – The Shock of the Fall – Nathan Filer
- 2013 – An Officer and a Spy – Robert Harris
- 2012 – Fifty Shades of Grey – E. L. James
- 2011 – A Tiny Bit Marvellous – Dawn French
- 2010 – One Day – David Nicholls
- 2009 – Devil May Care – Sebastian Faulks (Penguin)
- 2008 – The Memory Keeper's Daughter – Kim Edwards (Penguin)
- 2006 – Anybody Out There? – Marian Keyes (Michael Joseph)
- 2006 – The Time Traveler's Wife – Audrey Niffenegger (Vintage)
This award was previously called the Newcomer of the Year. It was changed to New Writer of the Year in 2010 and later to Début Book of the Year in 2017.
This award was previously called the Crime Thriller of the Year. It was renamed Thriller & Crime Novel of the Year in 2011 and later to Crime & Thriller Book of the Year in 2017.
- 2016 – (no award)
- 2015 – (no award)
- 2014 – I Am Pilgrim – Terry Hayes
- 2013 – The Carrier – Sophie Hannah (Hodder)
- 2012 – A Wanted Man – Lee Child
- 2011 – Before I Go to Sleep – S. J. Watson
- 2010 – (no award)
- 2009 – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Stieg Larsson
- 2008 – Book of the Dead – Patricia Cornwell (Little, Brown)
- 2007 – The Naming of the Dead – Ian Rankin (Orion)
- 2006 – The Take – Martina Cole (Headline)
- 2005 – Fleshmarket Close – Ian Rankin (Orion)
This category was created as a separate category in 2022.
- 1995 – The Most Amazing Pop-Up Science Book – Jay Young (Watts Books)
- 1994 – Mummy Laid an Egg – Babette Cole (Jonathan Cape)
- 1993 – Penguin Small – Mick Inkpen (Hodder)
- 1992 – Farmer Duck – Helen Oxenbury (Walker Books)
- 1991 – The Mousehole Cat – Nicola Bayley (Walker Books)
Retired awards
The following awards are no longer given or have been divided into smaller categories.
- 2014 – Awful Auntie – David Walliams
- 2013 – The Ocean at the End of the Lane – written and narrated by Neil Gaiman (Headline)
- 2012 – The Woman Who Went to Bed for a Year – Sue Townsend, narrated by Caroline Quentin
- 2011 – My Dear, I Wanted to Tell You – Louisa Young, narrated by Dan Stevens
- 2005–2010 – (no award)
- 2004 – Forgotten Voices of the Great War – Max Arthur (Random House)
- 2003 – A Series of Unfortunate Events – written by Lemony Snicket, narrated by Tim Curry (Collins)
- 2002 – The Laying on of Hands – written and narrated by Alan Bennett (BBC Radio Collection)
This award was called Bestseller of the Year in 1991. In 2017, it was renamed Bestseller Award.
- 2017 – Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – J. K. Rowling
- 1992–2016 – (no award)
- 1991 – Delia Smith's Christmas – Delia Smith (BBC Books)
This award was previously called Biography of the Year. In 2010, it was renamed Biography/Autobiography of the Year.
- 2014 – Please, Mister Postman – Alan Johnson
- 2013 – David Jason: My Life – David Jason (Random House)
- 2012 – My Animals and Other Family – Clare Balding
- 2011 – Charles Dickens – Claire Tomalin
- 2010 – The Fry Chronicles – Stephen Fry
- 2009 – Dreams from My Father – Barack Obama (Canongate)
- 2008 – My Booky Wook – Russell Brand (Hodder & Stoughton)
- 2007 – The Sound of Laughter – Peter Kay (Century)
- 2006 – Sharon Osbourne Extreme – Sharon Osbourne (Time Warner)
- 2005 – My Life – Bill Clinton (Hutchinson)
- 2004 – Toast – Nigel Slater (Fourth Estate)
- 2003 – Churchill: A Biography – Roy Jenkins (Pan)
- 2014 – Love, Nina – Nina Stibbe
- 2013 – I Am Malala – Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb
- 2012 – Is It Just Me – Miranda Hart
- 2011 – How To Be a Woman – Caitlin Moran
- 2010 – The Making of Modern Britain – Andrew Marr
- 2014 – Plenty More – Yotam Ottolenghi
- 2013 – Eat – Nigel Slater (HarperCollins)
- 2012 – The Hairy Dieters – Si King and Dave Myers
- 2011 – The Good Cook – Simon Hopkinson
- 2010 – Plenty – Yotam Ottolenghi
- 2011 – Room – Emma Donoghue
This award was previously called the Lifetime Achievement Award (1993–2009). In 2010, it was renamed Outstanding Achievement Award.
This award was previously called Author of the Year. In 2010, it was renamed UK Author of the Year, even though some winners were not from the UK.
- 2014 – We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves – Karen Joy Fowler
- 2013 – Gone Girl – Gillian Flynn
- 2012 – The Snow Child – Eowyn Ivey
- 2011 – A Visit from the Goon Squad – Jennifer Egan
- 2010 – Freedom – Jonathan Franzen
- 2009 – When Will There Be Good News? – Kate Atkinson (Doubleday)
- 2008 – A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini (Bloomsbury)
- 2007 – The Interpretation of Murder – Jed Rubenfeld (Headline Review)
- 2006 – Labyrinth – Kate Mosse (Orion)
- 2005 – Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell (Sceptre)
- 2004 – The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold (Picador)
- 1995 – Allan Ahlberg and Janet Ahlberg
- 1994 – Anne Fine
- 1993 – Raymond Briggs
- 1992 – Dick King-Smith
- 1991 – Anne Fine
- 1990 – Roald Dahl
- 2007 – The Devil Wears Prada – Lauren Weisberger (HarperCollins)
- 2006 – The Constant Gardener – John le Carré (Hodder & Stoughton)
- 2005 – Himalaya – Michael Palin (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
- 2004 – How Clean Is Your House? – Kim Woodburn and Aggie MacKenzie (Michael Joseph)
- 2003 – What Not to Wear – Trinny Woodall and Susannah Constantine (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
- 2005 – Cloud Atlas – David Mitchell (Sceptre)
- 2004 – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – Mark Haddon (Jonathan Cape)
- 2005 – William Pitt the Younger: A Biography – William Hague (HarperCollins)
- 2004 – Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar – Simon Sebag Montefiore (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
- 2007 – Gerrard: My Autobiography – Steven Gerrard (Bantam)
- 2006 – Being Freddie – Andrew Flintoff (Hodder & Stoughton)
- 2005 – Gazza: My Story – Paul Gascoigne (Headline)
- 2004 – Martin Johnson: The Autobiography – Martin Johnson (Headline)
- 2007 – Jackie Kay
- 2006 – Diana Evans
- 2005 – Hari Kunzru
- 2004 – My Side – David Beckham (CollinsWillow)
- 1993 – Michael Palin – Pole to Pole (BBC Books)
- 1992 – Mark Shand – *Travels on