Davis, Rundell and Thames & Hudson win Indie Champions Awards

Lydia Davis, Katherine Rundell and Thames & Hudson have won Bookshop.org’s Indie Champions Awards, which recognise authors, publishers, organisations and content creators that "have gone above and beyond" in championing independent bookshops.

Rundell, author of Impossible Creatures (Bloomsbury Children’s), won in the children’s category, while Our Strangers author Davis (Canongate) was the winning author in the fiction category. Mikaela Loach, author of It’s Not That Radical (DK) won in non-fiction and Cold War Steve, who writes the satirical annual published by Constable, emerged as the winner in the lifestyle and culture category.

“I am so pleased to have won this award for Our Strangers and to have had a hand in supporting independent bookstores," Davis said. "I do feel that if we don’t support our corner indie, it will disappear. And so for many, many years now, I have bought books only through indies, with thanks to their hard-working, dedicated staff."

Thames & Hudson won the the overall publisher award, while Eleanor Slater, trade marketing manager at HarperCollins, was named publisher professional of the year. "Literary Friction" was the winner in the podcast category, while the BooksforTopics platform was awarded for its innovative use of Bookshop.org. 

Sophy Thompson, c.e.o. of Thames & Hudson, said: “As an independent publishing company, we have a particular attachment to independent bookshops and are committed to safeguarding their future. We are keen to empower our readers to support their local bookstore by raising awareness of Bookshop.org through links to the site, marketing content and author involvement.”

In the newly added category that celebrates content creators, Nicci Rosengarten was awarded for her Instagram account, The Kids Books Curator (the.kids.books.curator).

The awards were first launched in 2022 as a way of celebrating those who financially support independent bookshops through Bookshop.org, while using the platform in innovative ways. Spanning 11 categories, the awards highlight winners’ year-long support for indie bookshops via the platform, including linking to indies through media partnerships, incorporating Bookshop.org into their digital campaigns and helping the platform reach new audiences. 

Winners of the Indie Champion Titles of the Year and Indie Champion List of the Year were decided based on sales generated for indie bookshops between 1st January and 31st December 2023. The list of Indie Champion Titles, which spotlights 100 books, features Rory Stewart’s Politics On the Edge (Jonathan Cape) and Bonnie Garmus’ Lessons in Chemistry (Penguin). Stewart is featured again, in the Indie Champion List of the Year, for his podcast "The Rest is Politics", which he hosts with Alistair Campbell.

Nicole Vanderbilt, managing director of Bookshop.org UK, commented: “These awards allow us to pay a well-deserved thanks to a broad range of individuals and organisations working year-long to support indies; our community would not be nearly as strong without their continued creativity and support […] Recent figures released by the Booksellers Association showed a year-on-year increase in new bookshops opening across the UK, delivering a vote of confidence in the sector.  

"However, the reported rise in shop closures also highlighted by the BA drives home the importance of the book world remaining vigilant in its support for Indies, whose financial viability as small businesses also depends on their online sales. May the Indie Champions Awards continue to shine a light on those working tirelessly to support indie bookshops, and inspire others to follow in their footsteps.”