You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Louise Doughty, Caroline Sanderson and Will Smith to judge the 2024 Nero Book Awards
Author Louise Doughty, The Bookseller’s non-fiction reviewer and author Caroline Sanderson and bookseller Will Smith, co-owner of Sam Read Bookseller in Grasmere and Paperback previewer at The Bookseller, will judge the 2024 Nero Book Awards.
The awards are focused on “recognising outstanding writing and celebrating the joy of reading” by highlighting the “top books of the year” in the UK and Ireland. Launched last year, they are are run as a not-for-profit organisation by the coffee house group Caffè Nero, in partnership with the Booksellers Association (BA) and Brunel University London.
The 16-strong shortlist, comprising four books from each of the four categories, will be announced on 3rd December 2024, with the winners named on 14th January 2025. The winner of the Book of the Year award will be announced on 5th March 2025.
“The Nero Awards are a vital part of our literary eco-system and at the same time unique in offering multi-category prizes that reward novels, debuts, non-fiction and children’s writing,” Doughty said. “I’ve had a fantastic summer ploughing through the most wonderful variety of debut novels on offer and really look forward to slugging it out with my fellow judges in our meetings to come.”
The Children’s Fiction Award will be judged by author Patrice Lawrence, Leanne Fridd, the owner of the Bookbugs and Dragontales bookshop in Norwich, and children’s festival programmer and reviewer Sarah Webb. Meanwhile, to select the winner of the Debut Fiction Award, Doughty will be joined by Waterstones fiction and crime buyer Matthew Hennessey and freelance editor and ghostwriter Gillian Stern.
The panel for the Fiction Award comprises novelist, critic and academic Kevin Power, bookshop co-owner and academic Smith and Zoe West, the books editor at Woman & Home. Finally, deciding on the Non-Fiction Award winner will be WHSmith non-fiction buyer Sophie Macintosh, memoirist, journalist and creative writing tutor Rhik Samadder and Sanderson.
Gerry Ford, the founder and c.e.o. of Caffè Nero, commented: “The inaugural year of the Nero Book Awards was a huge success, spotlighting some of the best books published in 2023. The impact of the awards on the industry and on readers has been heartwarming to see and I am delighted to be continuing our work in 2024.”
The inaugural winner of the Nero Book Awards Gold Prize was The Bee Sting by Paul Murray (Hamish Hamilton).
