Star guests to join British Book Awards virtual ceremony today

The best authors, publishers and retailers will be crowned at the British Book Awards in a virtual ceremony today.

Kicking off at 4 p.m., the event will feature appearances from stars including Kate Mosse, Matt Lucas, Konnie Huq, Andrew Marr and Adele Parks. The ceremony will culminate with an overall Book of the Year prize presented by Sandi Toksvig.

The event, which marks its 30th anniversary this year, will be livestreamed online, with no need to register ahead of time. 

Among the awards this year, Booker-winning novels The Testaments by Margaret Atwood (Chatto) and Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo (Hamish Hamilton) will battle it out for Fiction Book of the Year alongside Philip Pullman’s The Secret Commonwealth (David Fickling Books in association with PRH), The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes (MJ), Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris (Bonnier Books UK) and Lies, Lies, Lies by Adele Parks.

In the Non-Fiction: Narrative Book of the Year category, the shortlist features Elton John’s autobiography Me (Pan Macmillan), Adam Kay’s Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas (Pan Macmillan) Anne Glenconner’s Lady in Waiting (Hodder), Bill Bryson's The Body (Doubleday), Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez (Vintage) and Three Women by Lisa Taddeo (Bloomsbury). 

For the trade, all eyes will be on Publisher of the Year, where Ebury, Faber, HarperCollins, Hodder, Michael Joseph, Pan Macmillan, Penguin General and Vintage are all nominated, and on Book Retailer of the Year, where Blackwell's, Tesco, Waterstones, W H Smith High Street and W H Smith Travel are all in with a chance of the top prize.

A full rundown of shortlists is available on the Nibbies website.