Ishiguro, Barker and Donaldson shortlisted for Indie Book Awards

Titles by Kazuo Ishiguro, Pat Barker and Julia Donaldson have been shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2022, which recognise the best paperbacks for summer as part of Independent Bookshop Week (full shortlists below).

Organised by the Bookseller’s Association (BA), the awards honour titles curated by booksellers, across fiction, non-fiction, children’s fiction and picture book categories. 

Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun (Faber) has been shortlisted in the fiction category, alongside former indie Book award winner Barker, who is listed for Women of Troy (Hamish Hamilton), and 2021 Women’s Prize for Fiction winner Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi (Bloomsbury.)

“I’ve always kept in my mind an ever-evolving map of Britain made up of my favourite indie bookshops,” Ishiguro said. “Some are quiet sanctuaries; others are eccentric, obsessive, surreally eclectic. They’ve all of them inspired me down the years, nudging me into unexpected areas of interest, into fresh territories for my reading and my writing. I’m delighted Klara has made it on to the Indie Book Awards shortlist.”

In the non-fiction category, Matt Haig’s The Comfort Book (Canongate), House of Music – Raising the Kanneh-Masons by Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason (Oneworld) and How We Met by Huma Qureshi (Elliot & Thompson) are in the running, among other titles.

In children’s, Escape Room by Christopher Edge (Nosy Crow) is up against The Last Bear by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (HarperCollins Children’s Books) and The Chime Seekers by Ross Montgomery (Walker)

Two titles by indie publisher Two Hoots have made the picture book listing, including Donaldson and Sharon King-Chai’s Counting Creatures, and A Song of Gladness by Michael Morpurgo and Emily Gravett. 

Donaldson said: “I am absolutely thrilled to hear that Counting Creatures has been shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards.  As a child I spent many happy hours in independent bookshops and I still do today. Independent booksellers are experts in their field and offer so much knowledge and advice to their customers and to the community.”

The judging panel for the adult categories comprises chair Matt Steele (Ivybridge Bookshop), Melanie Greenwood (Drake The Bookshop), Carolynn Bain (Afrori Books), Sally Pattle (Far From the Madding Crowd) and Stephanie Goulden (Blackwell’s Edinburgh).

The children’s categories will be judged by Jasmine Dellimore (Moon Lane Books), Alex Forbes (Four Bear Books), Fiona McDonald (Blackwell’s Edinburgh), Annie McCloskey (David’s Bookshop), with Meera Ghanshamdas (Round Table Books) as the judges’ chair.

Four winners will be announced on Friday 24th June, the penultimate day of Independent Bookshop Week, which runs from the 18th to 25th June. The winners will be announced live on the Mark Forrest show, which airs from 10am on Scala Radio, and is the media partner of the awards.

Emma Bradshaw, head of campaigns at the BA, said: “The Indie Book Awards celebrate the best paperback reads of the summer, as recommended by the experts, independent booksellers. This year’s shortlist features New York Times-bestselling titles, authors who have been passionately championed by indies for years, authors who have been on the Indie Book Awards shortlist before and some exciting new authors. We’re lucky to be celebrating Independent Bookshop Week with lots of author events across the country this year, including some of the shortlisted authors. We encourage all book lovers to go to their local indie and get their hands on this year’s wonderful shortlist!”

The full Indie Book Awards 2022 shortlist

Fiction:

Mrs Death Misses Death by Salena Godden (Canongate)

Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (Faber)

The Lamplighters by Emma Stonex (Picador)

Still Life by Sarah Winman (HarperCollins)

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (Bloomsbury)

The Women of Troy by Pat Barker (Hamish Hamilton)

Non-Fiction

The Comfort Book by Matt Haig (Canongate)

The Book of Trespass by Nick Hayes (Bloomsbury)

Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (Picador)

How We Met by Huma Qureshi (Elliot & Thompson)

Scoff: A History of Food and Class in Britain by Pen Vogler (Atlantic Books)

House of Music – Raising the Kanneh-Masons by Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason (Oneworld)

Children’s Fiction:

The Last Bear by Hannah Gold, illustrated by Levi Pinfold (HarperCollins Children’s Books)

The Week at World’s End by Emma Carroll (Faber)

Frankenstiltskin: Fairy Tales Gone Bad by Joseph Coelho, illustrated by Freya Hartas (Walker)

Escape Room by Christopher Edge (Nosy Crow)

The Chime Seekers by Ross Montgomery (Walker)

When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds, illustrated by Akhran Girmay (Faber)

Picture Book:

Arlo the Lion Who Couldn’t Sleep by Catherine Rayner (Macmillan Children’s Books)

Counting Creatures by Julia Donaldson and Sharon King-Chai (Two Hoots)

A Song of Gladness by Michael Morpurgo and Emily Gravett (Two Hoots)

Granny Came Here on the Empire Windrush by Patrice Lawrence and Camilla Sucre (Nosy Crow)

My Beautiful Voice by Joseph Coelho and Allison Colpoys (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books)

The Night the Moon Went Missing by Brendan Kearney (DK)