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Third winning year for Walliams at National Book Awards
David Walliams’ Awful Auntie (HarperCollins Children’s) has been named Children’s Book of the Year at the Specsavers National Book Awards, making it the third time in a row the author has won the honour.
The awards, presented today (26th November) at a ceremony at the Foreign Office in London by TV news presenter Susanna Reid, also saw Awful Auntie win the Audible Audiobook of the Year trophy.
Cookery writer and "Great British Bake-Off" judge Mary Berry received the Outstanding Achievement accolade, given to her by chef Ken Hom.
David Nicholls won UK Author of the Year, for the second time in his career, for Us (Hodder & Stoughton). Crime Book of the Year was awarded to Terry Hayes’ I Am Pilgrim (Bantam Press), while Yotam Ottolenghi won the Food and Drink of the Year award for Plenty More (Ebury Press).
Alan Johnson’s memoir Please, Mister Postman (Bantam Press), the sequel to This Boy (Bantam Press), was named the winner of the Magic FM Autobiography/Biography of the Year.
International Author of the Year was Karen Joy Fowler for the Man Booker Prize-shortlisted We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves (Serpent’s Tail).
Nathan Filer won the Specsavers Popular Fiction Book of the Year for his debut novel The Shock of the Fall (The Borough Press), which has also won the Costa Book of the Year this year.
Nina Stibbe took the award for Non-fiction Book of the Year for Love, Nina (Penguin), while Jessie Burton won the Books Are My Bag New Writer of the Year Award for her first novel, The Miniaturist (Picador).
The awards ceremony was followed by a reception for nominees and winners at Number 11 Downing Street, in association with Books Are My Bag.
Amanda Ross, from Cactus TV who founded and produces the Awards, commented: “I am delighted to be able to take the shortlisted authors of the National Book Awards to a reception at 11 Downing Street this year in recognition of their popularity. These are the authors that really get the country reading, their books entice people into libraries and book shops so they should be applauded for their contribution to literacy.”
Voting is now open for the Specsavers Book of the Year award, which is chosen by the public from the category winners of this year’s awards.
The poll closes at midnight on 19th December, and the winner will be announced on 22nd December.
