At the 35th British Book Awards on May 12, Grosvenor House, London. Image: British Book Awards
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
‘A Business That Stands for Reading and Its Value to Society’
Overnight Monday (May 12) in London, the 35th-anniversary British Book Awards once more bathed the ballroom of the Grosvenor Hotel in their trademark purple light and assigned winners to one of the international book-publishing industry’s largest sets of categories.
Broadly speaking, the “Nibbies,” as they’re called, divide some 30 categories into “book of the year” honors and trade honors, with several special accolades. The exuberant commitment of the squadron of more than 50 jurors, the excitement of the many publishers’ staffers wearing their most expressive outfits for the moment, and the indefatigable energy of the press agents who faithfully signal us in the news media about what’s being won by whom for what throughout the evening is undeniably infectious.
Once the guiding embodiment of that enthusiasm was Nigel Roby, a former owner of The Bookseller under whose tenure the company purchased the British Book Awards in 2017 after the awards had been in a three-year hiatus. Another keeper of the flame for years has been Emma Lowe, of course, now becoming the director of London Book Fair (March 10 to 12 in 2026). And the constant here has been Bookseller editor Philip Jones, who greets the Nibbies attendees from the stage—this year in a gleaming gold cummerbund.
Tonight, Jones reflected the serious pride and intention behind these awards, as he told the press, “The 35th year of these fabulous awards was the best yet, combining politics with pluralism, joy with hope. Our winners—among them Percival Everett, Kate Mosse, [illustrator] Rob Biddulph, Julia Donaldson, Waterstones, and Bloomsbury—speak to the great strengths of this trade. Excellence. Fortitude. Imagination. Defiance. Longevity. Ingenuity. This is a business that stands for reading and its value to society, and for three decades now, the British Book Awards has stood with it.
“The challenges we face—from artificial intelligence to authoritarianism—are growing, but we are many, and we will not be moved from this purpose”
Even in a market as heavily laden with awards programs as the United Kingdom, there’s a drive and a pitch to the British Book Awards that keep them moving in a class of their own.
Atwood: A Freedom To Publish Award
Margaret Atwood. Image: Hay festival
Tonight, one of the special awards, the program’s Freedom to Publish Award—which “honors a person who has gone above and beyond in terms of promoting reading and free expression”—was given to Canadian Margaret Atwood, whose videotaped comments delivered during the event included her saying, “I cannot remember a time during my own life, when words themselves felt under such threat.
“Political and religious polarization, which appeared to be on the wane for parts of the 20th century, has increased alarmingly in the past decade. The world feels to me more like the 1930s and ’40s at present than it has in the intervening 80 years. …
“In a free world, publishers and booksellers stand for the many. If free governments and the free human intelligence are to survive, the guardians and transmitters of words in all their multiplicity must be brave. I wish you strength and hope, and the courage to withstand the mobs on one hand and the whims of vengeful potentates on the other.”
2025 British Book Award Trade Honors
As you’ll see, Bloomsbury’s adult division won the top trade honor, Publisher of the Year. This is the first time in more than 20 years that the house took this prize.
Bloomsbury has been shortlisted in six of seven years, however, and in 2024 saw the adult division’s TCM sales move up 8 percent. Ebook sales, tracked by Bookstat, The Bookseller reports, rose 18 percent, and “international growth was at a similar mark.”
| Award | Publisher | Project / Region / Honoree | Book |
| Marketing Strategy of the Year | Spectre, Hodder & Stoughton | The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley | Vicky Palmer, Alice Morley, Melissa Grierson |
| Publicity Campaign of the Year | Bloomsbury | Want by Gillian Anderson and Anonymous | Fran Owen, Mari Yamazaki, Annabel Robinson & Hayley Camis |
| Independent Bookstore of the Year | The Heath Bookshop | Midlands | |
| Library of the Year | Blue Peter Book Club Live | Manchester Libraries | North England |
| Small Press of the Year | Sweet Cherry Publishing | Midlands | Leicester |
| Academic, Educational, and Professional Publisher of the Year | Class Professional Publishing | Kate Anderson | |
| Children’s Bookseller of the Year | Wonderland | Helen Tamblyn-Saville | |
| Export Award of the Year | Bonnier Books UK | ||
| Rights Professional of the Year | Simon & Schuster | Simon & Schuster adult rights team | |
| Literary Agent of the Year | Maven Literary Management | Amanda Harris | |
| Imprint of the Year | Bookouture | Hachette UK | |
| Editor of the Year | Penguin General / Viking | Isabel Wall | |
| Designer of the Year | Faber / Freelance | Kishan Rajani | |
| Individual Bookseller of the Year | Carolynn Bain | Afrori Books | |
| Book Retailer of the Year | Waterstones | ||
| Independent Publisher (jointly awarded) of the Year | Boldwood Books and Magic Cat Publishing | ||
| Children’s Publisher of the Year | Nosy Crow | ||
| Publisher of the Year | Bloomsbury Adult |
Live-Stream Recording
On the British Book Awards side of the program, a full list of winners and commentary is here from The Bookseller.
During the pandemic, The Bookseller team began streaming professionally made large-room, multi-camera, live-to-video events. To get a sense for the show and its events, the recording of the evening’s live stream is embedded below. You can find the recording here:
More on the British Book Awards is here. More from us on publishing and book awards in general is here. And more on the UK book market and industry is here. Publishing Perspectives is the International Publishers Association’s world media partner. Porter Anderson is a former associate editor of The FutureBook at The Bookseller.