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Paul Murray and Fern Brady win inaugural Nero Book Awards
Hamish Hamilton has scored two of the four winners in the inaugural Nero Book Awards, with books by Paul Murray and Michael Magee. They are joined by Beth Lincoln and Fern Brady.
The freshly launched Nero Book Awards celebrate books and writers from the UK and Ireland published in the past 12 months across four categories: children’s fiction, debut fiction, fiction and non-fiction.
Murray scooped the fiction category for his fourth novel, The Bee Sting (Hamish Hamilton), the latest in a string of prize nods including a Booker shortlisting, an An Post Irish Book of the Year 2023 win and a nomination for The Writer’s Prize 2024. At 650 pages, the novel took five years to complete and tells the story of a middle-class Irish family in turmoil, as the effects of the post-2008 banking crisis take their toll.
Magee’s Close to Home (Hamish Hamilton) took the debut fiction crown. It was inspired by the author’s working-class upbringing in West Belfast, exploring masculinity, violence, poverty and trauma, and won the Rooney Prize for Literature in 2023 and Waterstones Irish Book of the Year 2023.
The children’s fiction winner was The Swifts by debut writer Lincoln (Puffin), which is illustrated by Claire Powell. Awards organisers called it “a rip-roaring murder mystery full of comedy and hijinks", adding that "the book is Lincoln’s first, and a direct result of her participation in Penguin Random House’s WriteNow scheme”.
Strong Female Character by “Taskmaster” comedian Fern Brady (Brazen) was named the non-fiction winner. The book was inspired by a diagnosis of autism in her 30s. “Raw, honest and moving, the book recalls Fern’s experience in a teen psychiatric unit, her violent meltdowns, why a strip club is one of the most comfortable places she’s worked, and why she would rather be an autistic woman than a neurotypical one,” organisers said.
Of these four category winners, one book will be selected as the overall winner and recipient of the Nero Gold Prize Book of the Year, to be announced at a ceremony in London on 14th March. A final judging panel led by award-winning author Bernardine Evaristo will select the overall winner. Each category winner receives £5,000, with the overall Nero Gold Prize Book of the Year winner receiving an additional £30,000.
The awards are part of Caffè Nero’s programme to sponsor the arts and are run in partnership with Right to Dream, Brunel University London and The Booksellers Association. Launched in May 2023, organisers revealed back in September how hundreds of books had been submitted for the inaugural prize.
The category prizes were chosen by 12 category judges, a mix of authors, booksellers and journalists.
Organisers said: “The inaugural category winners announced today tackle a number of important topics and represent the highest quality of books published in the UK and Ireland in the past year. Subjects addressed include mental health and neurodiversity, identity, the enduring legacy of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and so much more.
“The four authors all have roots in different parts of the UK and Ireland: Beth Lincoln lives in Newcastle; Michael Magee in Belfast; Paul Murray is a Dubliner; and Fern Brady grew up in Scotland. Among the winners are three debut writers in Magee, Lincoln and Brady.”
Gerry Ford, founder and group c.e.o. of Caffè Nero, commented: “My congratulations to the winning authors, and thank you to our judges, partners and the wider publishing industry for engaging with these awards so enthusiastically in our first year. It is our goal that these awards come to represent a badge of exceptional quality which is seen as aspirational for authors and within the industry and a trustworthy recommendation for readers.”
Evaristo said: “At a time when literature is under threat from the addictive distractions of social media and the internet, literary prizes not only celebrate individual writers and elevate careers, but draw attention to a beautiful art form that requires and rewards sustained concentration and engagement with words, other people’s lives, and the imagination. The Nero Book Awards are a major new prize.
“I’m looking forward to chairing the Nero Gold Prize, and selecting a book from the category winners that offers readers exceptional riches, one which we judges think deserves to be honoured as the overall book of the year.”
