Toby Jones, Lorraine Kelly and Yinka Bokinni on star-studded judging panel for The British Book Awards 

A star-studded roster of actors, broadcasters and comedians have been announced as judges of The British Book Awards 2024. 

Among them are Toby Jones, who recently appeared in “Mr Bates vs The Post Office”, TV presenters Lorraine Kelly and Adrian Chiles and BBC broadcasters Nihal Arthanayake and Yinka Bokinni.   

Further confirmed celebrity judges across the 2024 awards include comedian Shaparak Khorsandi, BAFTA-winning TV presenter Maddie Moate, broadcaster Laura Jackson, TV presenter Ben Cajee and actress and writer Janet Ellis. 

They will be joined by journalist and presenter Candice Brathwaite, poet and author Salena Godden, author Janice Hallett, trustee of the Appledore Book Festival and former m.d. at Cornerstone Susan Sandon and Nick Barley, former director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival. 

Also judging will be executive director of the Women’s Prize Trust Claire Shanahan, author Louise Kennedy, founder of @WhatSarahReadNext Sarah Gwonyoma, founder of the Black British Book Festival Selina Brown, host of the “Book Off” podcast Joe Haddow, interviewer and arts reviewer Fiona Sturges, journalist Patricia Nicol, Stylist editorial director Lisa Smosarski and editorial director for The Week Junior Anna Bassi.  

Produced by The Bookseller magazine, The British Book Awards, also known as the Nibbies, are a celebration of the UK and Ireland’s best-loved books and authors, and the industry behind the scenes which makes them. This year’s ceremony returns to Grosvenor House, London, on 13th May. 

Philip Jones, editor of The Bookseller and chair of the judges at The British Book Awards, said: “Our 2024 judges are united by a passion for reading and sharing stories, which is, of course, exactly what we celebrate each year at The British Book Awards. Hailing from across the creative disciplines — from broadcast to journalism, television to radio to social media, and, of course, books — they bring an extraordinary breadth of knowledge, skills and experience to the Nibbies table. We look forward to working with them.” 

There are 13 Book of the Year Awards: Children’s Illustrated, Children’s Non-Fiction, Children’s Fiction, Fiction, Début Fiction, Crime & Thriller, Pageturner, Non-Fiction: Lifestyle and Illustrated, Non-Fiction: Narrative, Audiobook Fiction, Audiobook Non-Fiction, Discover, which is a breakthrough award with a focus on under-represented voices, as well as the Overall Book of the Year. Entries are open until 1st February. 

The 2023 winners included Lessons in Chemistry (Doubleday) author Bonnie Garmus, Heartstopper creator Alice Oseman, and Richard E Grant for his touching memoir A Pocketful of Happiness (Gallery UK). Overall Book of the Year went to Menopausing by Davina McCall and Dr Naomi Potter (HQ), for inspiring a nationwide conversation with NHS figures showing that an extra 500,000 women were prescribed hormone replacement therapy (HRT) as a result of the "Davina effect".