Heartstopper author Alice Oseman does the double at Books Are My Bag Readers Awards

Heartstopper by Alice Oseman (Hachette Children’s) has won the Readers’ Choice prize at the Books Are My Bag Readers Awards, with the writer also winning the Breakthrough Author award.

Now in their seventh year, the awards are the only prizes featuring shortlists curated by booksellers and winners chosen by readers.

Heartstopper has sold more than one million print copies and has been adapted for a Netflix series which came out in April 2022, receiving more than 52 million views to date according to the streaming service. After crowdfunding a limited print-run edition, in which she met her funding goal in less than two hours, Oseman published Heartstopper volume one in spring 2019 with Hachette Children’s Group, followed by volume two in July of the same year. Since then, the publisher has released two further volumes and a colouring book. Oseman scooped the Breakthrough Author award with readers overwhelmingly voting for her Heartstopper series.

“Thank you so much everyone for voting for Heartstopper as the Readers’ Choice," she said. "Thank you to everyone who’s been involved in the journey of Heartstopper over the years. It’s been such an amazing year for Heartstopper, so this award really means a lot.”

In a strong year for LGBTQ+ authors and books, The Transgender Issue by Shon Faye (Penguin) won the Non-Fiction award. Juno Dawson’s Her Majesty’s Royal Coven (HarperCollins), which follows a top-secret government department of witches, won the Fiction award. Erik J Brown’s debut, All That’s Left in the World (Hachette Children’s Group), which blends a queer love story with a post-apocalyptic thriller, took home the YA Fiction award.

Lemn Sissay’s The Fire People (Canongate), a collection of British Black and Asian poetry, won in the Poetry category. The Children’s Fiction award went to Loki: A Bad God’s Guide To Being Good by Louie Stowell (Walker Books), the "doodle-heavy diary" of trickster god Loki, which was also Waterstones Children’s Book of the Month for February 2022.

Faye said: "Winning the Books Are My Bag Readers’ Award – which was shortlisted by booksellers and voted for by readers – is not only a huge honour, but mirrors the entire trajectory of The Transgender Issue’s success in the UK. Its influence on the public conversation has been entirely due to the overwhelming support of booksellers and the enthusiasm of readers in a country where both the media and government have abjured their responsibilities to treat trans people with fairness, dignity and honesty.

"We are living in a bleak time for the protection of human rights in the UK. This award is such a meaningful endorsement of the book’s message which is even more needed now than when I was writing it nearly three years ago. I’m forever grateful to all the retailers and readers who continue to introduce the book’s discussion of trans liberation to others.”

The awards were presented on 8th November by a panel of booksellers, featuring John Webb of W H Smith, Darran McLaughlin from Bookhaus, Hazel Broadfoot of Village Books, David Coates from Blackwell’s Manchester, Helen Tamblyn-Saville of Wonderland Bookshop, Alex Call from Bert’s Books and Gaby Lee at Waterstones.