The winners for the annual Independent Booksellers Book Prize 2011, as voted for, uniquely, by independent booksellers and their customers, are:
ADULT CATEGORY:EDMUND DE WAAL – THE HARE WITH AMBER EYES (Vintage Books)
CHILDREN’S CATEGORY:EOIN COLFER – ARTEMIS FOUL & THE ATLANTIS COMPLEX (Puffin)
This is the second time Eoin Colfer has been awarded the Independent Booksellers’ Book Prize, having also won the Children’s Category forArtemis Fowl and the Time Paradox in 2009.
Meryl Halls, Head of Membership Services, Booksellers Association, said: “We offer our congratulations to Edmund de Waal and Eoin Colfer, who both enjoy huge support from independents. This is the fifth Independent Booksellers’ Book Prize, and the quality of this year’s shortlist is testament to the important part the Prize plays in IBW.”
Edmund de Waal, winner of the Adult category, said: “Books need champions. Writing a book about a great-uncle in Tokyo and an art-form that no one can pronounce is not a sensible thing to do. I owe a huge debt to the real, passionate, independent, local, engaged bookshops for stacking my book next to their tills, talking about it, and pressing it into customers’ hands. It is these booksellers who have made my ‘niche’ book fly. I am delighted to have won the Independent Booksellers’ Book Prize this year, especially as the votes come from independent booksellers and their customers.”
Eoin Colfer, winner of the Children’s category, said: “It means a huge amount to me to receive an award from independent booksellers, as these are the people who really foster a love of reading in our young people. Their expertise and passion keep books alive and thriving in a competitive time, so to be honoured by these guys is to be honoured by people who really know what they are talking about, which makes the award mean so much more. A huge thank you to everyone involved in IBW.”
The Independent Booksellers Book Prize is unique amongst book prizes as it is the only award chosen by independent booksellers in the UKand their customers, giving publishers a prime opportunity to promote key independent titles into the independent sector.
A shortlist of ten adult and twelve children’s books were selected by a judging panel of independent booksellers from nominations put forward by publishers. Participating bookshops showcased the short-listed titles in special promotions that ran throughout Independent Booksellers Week (18th-25th June), with voting taking place from May until the end of August. Winners were selected by independent bookshop customers who cast postcard or email votes for their favourite books.
The shortlists for the 2011 IBW Book Award were:
Adult Shortlist
| Title | Author | Publisher |
| The Hare with Amber Eyes | Edmund de Waal | Vintage Books |
| The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet | David Mitchell | Sceptre |
| Empire of the Clouds | James Hamilton Paterson | Faber and Faber |
| The Betrayal | Helen Dunmore | Fig Tree/Penguin |
| The Man in the Wooden Hat | Jane Gardam | Abacus |
| Skippy Dies | Paul Murray | Penguin |
| The Empty Family | Colm Toibin | Penguin |
| The Forgotten Highlander | Alistair Urquhart | Abacus |
| Peter Pan’s First XI | Kevin Telfer | Sceptre |
| The Butterfly Isles | Patrick Barkham | Granta |
Children’s Shortlist
| Title | Author | Publisher |
| The Dead | Charlie Higson | Puffin |
| CHERUB: Shadow Wave | Robert Muchamore | Hodder Children’s |
| The Kane Chronicles: Red Pyramid | Rick Riordan | Puffin |
| The Joshua Files: Dark Parallel | MG Harris | Scholastic |
| The 13 Secrets | Michelle Harrison | Simon & Schuster |
| Artemis Fowl & The Atlantis Complex | Eoin Colfer | Puffin |
| Time Riders: The Doomsday Code | Alex Scarrow | Puffin |
| An Imaginary Menagerie | Roger McGough | Frances Lincoln |
| Young Samurai: The Ring of Water | Chris Bradford | Puffin |
| The Saga of Larten Crepsley: Birth of a Killer | Darren Shan | HarperCollins Children’s |
| School According to Humphrey | Betty G Birney | Faber Children’s |
| Magicalamity | Kate Saunders | Scholastic |
Below is the POS for this year’s Award.
IBW 2011 Shortlist Leaflet Outer
IBW 2011 Award Shortlist Leaflet Inner
Contact sharon.down@booksellers.org.uk for further information.
If you would like to see the shortlisted titles for the IBW Book Award 2010, click IBW Book Award Shortlist Titles 2010.
The Winners of the 2010 Award were Hilary Mantel for Wolf Hall and Michael Morpurgo for Running Wild. Both authors were delighted with their wins:
Running Wild win the Independent Booksellers Book Prize means a very great deal to me. I love being a small part of that buzz. I’m a happy bee today!’ Michael Morpurgo
Not long ago I did an event in Melrose at the wonderful Mainstreet Trading Company. I found myself plunged into a hive of enthusiasm and expectation. The place simply buzzed with books and people who love them.
Six months before Wolf Hall was launched I spoke about it in public for the first time at a meeting of independent booksellers, and the enthusiasm gave me a real lift – it was the first indication that the book was poised for success. Over my writing years I’ve become increasingly aware that a well-run independent bookshop can influence and inspire readers in the area it serves … and the taste and discrimination of independent booksellers are more important than ever in maintaining a lively reading culture.