Shortlists announced for Costa Book of the Year Awards

Shortlists for the 2016 Costa Book of the Year Awards are:

Novel
• Sebastian Barry, Days Without End
• Maggie O’Farrell, This Must Be the Place
• Sarah Perry, The Essex Serpent
• Rose Tremain, The Gustav Sonata
 
First novel
• Susan Beale, The Good Guy
• Kit de Waal, My Name is Leon
• Guinevere Glasfurd, The Words in My Hand
• Francis Spufford, Golden Hill
 
Biography
• Keggie Carew, Dadland: A Journey into Uncharted Territory
• John Guy, Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years
• Hisham Matar, The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between
• Sylvia Patterson, I’m Not with the Band: A Writer’s Life Lost in Music
 
Poetry
• Melissa Lee-Houghton, Sunshine
• Alice Oswald, Falling Awake
• Denise Riley, Say Something Back
• Kate Tempest, Let Them Eat Chaos
 
Children’s Book
• Brian Conaghan, The Bombs That Brought Us Together
• Patrice Lawrence, Orangeboy
• Francesca Simon, The Monstrous Child
• Ross Welford, Time Travelling with a Hamster

The winner in each of the five categories, receiving £5,000, will be announced on 3 January 2017, with the overall Costa Book of the Year winner, earning £30,000, to follow on 31 January.

At the prizegiving ceremony, the winner will also be announced of the Costa Short Story Award, voted by the public. The three shortlisted stories will be announced later this month on the website: www.costabookawards.com