London Book Fair 2020

THE LONDON BOOK FAIR AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

LBF International Excellence Awards: Asia and Europe lead the way

CAMEOs: Little Women, Life of Pi, Elizabeth is Missing and Norse Mythology triumph

UK Book Blog Awards: Sentimental Garbage, Julia’s Bookcase, WhatSallyReadNext and Leena Norms crowned winners

LBF 2021, the 50th Fair, will take place from 9-11 March 2021

LONDON 11 March 2020: The winners of The London Book Fair’s International Excellence Awards 2020, CAMEO Awards, and UK Book Blog Awards, have been announced.

N.B. Following the cancellation of The London Book Fair 2020, the LBF International Excellence Awards, CAMEO Awards, and UK Book Blog Awards ceremonies did not take place. Instead winners were announced online and prizes posted to winners around the world.

INTERNATIONAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS

The winners of The London Book Fair’s International Excellence Awards, in association with the Publishers Association, have been announced, with Europe and Asia leading the way with five and four winners respectively.

The LBF International Excellence Awards winners include:

Shortlisted in three categories, Karadi Tales (India) took home The Audiobook Publisher of the Year. The judges congratulated them on their “firm commercial focus on their future web-based strategy, and continued dedication to both educating and entertaining young people in India.” A special mention was bestowed on a Mozambique start-up, Editora Trinta Zero Nove, for their “innovative focus on under-served groups, particularly women from rural areas, and their ambitious plans for the future.”

Maadi Public Library in Egypt was crowned Library of the Year, with judges praising the library’s “sheer energy, diversity and vibrancy” and their “holistic programme, including management and leadership activities and entrepreneurial skills for women and girls, a focus on global issues such as water scarcity and new ideas around digital skills.”

The Bookstore of the Year Award, sponsored by Gardners, went to Unity Books Auckland (New Zealand) for “their wonderful and ‘dangerously tempting’ store, and for developing career booksellers, growing their business substantially, and their commitment and actions to become carbon zero by 2025.”

Indonesia’s Macassar International Writers’ Festival was awarded The Literary Festival Award, after Indonesia was the Market Focus country of 2019. The judges said that the Festival “has developed a radically inclusive operation transparent in its working methods and fearless in its programming.” A special mention also went to Ireland’s newly created The Dingle Literary Festival.

Praised for their Solar Homework Clubs initiative, Book Aid International won The Educational Initiatives Award. Assisting the education of all student refugees, especially vulnerable girls, Solar Homework Clubs are solar libraries with provisions of solar lamps and books – “a solution that is cost effective, replicable and scalable in a world with an increasing refugee population – and it changes lives” said the judges.

Winner of the Literary Translation Initiative Award was Yiddish Book Center (USA), which the judges called a “unique organisation that involves the public, publishers, libraries, and upcoming generations of translators in a broad and imaginative programme to preserve the past and safeguard the future of this language and its culture.”

Meanwhile, European winners included The Literary Agent Award, which went to María Lynch from Casanovas & Lynch Literary Agency (Spain), The Rights Professional Award, sponsored by Sharjah Book Authority, awarded to Tuomas Sorjamaa from Ferly (Finland) and Apicula Verlag, GMbH, who took home The Educational Learning Resources Award, with an additional special mention bestowed on the Arab Federation for Libraries & Information (Egypt).

This year’s Inclusivity in Publishing Award, supported by the Publishers Association, was conferred to Bonnier. The judges were especially impressed with “their efforts to provide accessible books for children from all socio-economic backgrounds is noteworthy, as is their efforts to diversify future talent pipelines. Bonnier has implemented admirable measures to improve equality in the workplace, and this is being reflected in the content of the books they publish.”

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to Nigel Newton, Founder and Chief Executive of Bloomsbury Publishing, for his outstanding contribution to the book industry, publishing international best-selling works by Khaled Hosseini, Margaret Atwood, JK Rowling, William Dalrymple, and many more.

Commenting on Nigel’s award Paul Boateng, Former MP and Chair of Book Aid International, said: “Nigel Newton’s leadership in the publishing industry and his championing of the role of Books and Publishing not least in the field of International Development over many years has been of huge significance. He has made an outstanding contribution both professionally and personally. Book Aid International continue to value him as our Honorary President and join with many others in wishing him well going forward.”

Mark Bide was awarded The London Book Fair’s Simon Master Chairman’s Award. In his career spanning four decades, Mark has been committed to the creation of a modern, efficient supply chain for the global publishing industry. His ground-breaking work includes the introduction of standardised product metadata, identifiers, subject categories, and communication protocols – all of which the publishing industry relies heavily on.

Mark has also been an energetic advocate for copyright, doing pioneering work on behalf of thousands of journalists and publishers. He designed and built the Automated Content Access Protocol (ACAP), allowing content owners to communicate their copyright terms and conditions online in a language that can be read by Google and Facebook. In addition, he has consistently championed the needs of those with reading disabilities, by working to ensure that accessibility metadata be included within the ONIX standard, thereby improving access to books worldwide for the reading disabled community.

Jacks Thomas, Director of The London Book Fair, said: “The International Excellence Awards always remind us of the innovative, important and inspiring work being done by all those in the global publishing and book community. From translators in India and librarians in Finland to literary festivals in Ukraine and literary agents in France, these awards show the breadth of talent working in the industry around the world today. The London Book Fair, is delighted to celebrate this global industry at this difficult juncture, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back to London for the 50th LBF in 2021.”

Stephen Lotinga, Chief Executive, The UK Publishers Association, said: “Congratulations to all the winners of this year’s International Excellence Awards. It’s inspiring to see the work and innovation in publishing around the globe. Although it is disappointing not be able to meet and congratulate everyone in person it’s fantastic to see the awards will be sent across the world – from Italy to India, Indonesia to New Zealand - a true reflection of the international nature of publishing.”

The full list of this year’s International Excellence winners is below:

The Academic and Professional Publisher Award: Princeton University Press (USA)

The Audiobook Publisher of the Year: Karadi Tales (India)

The Bookstore of the Year Award, sponsored by Gardners: Unity Books Auckland (New Zealand)

The Educational Initiatives Award: Book Aid International (UK / Kenya)

The Educational Learning Resources Award, supported by The China Publishing & Media Journal: Apicula Verlag, GMbH (Germany)

The Library of the Year Award: Maadi Public Library (Egypt)

The Literary Translation Initiative Award: Yiddish Book Center (USA)

The Literary Agent Award: Maria Lynch - Casanovas & Lynch Literary Agency (Spain)

The Literary Festival Award: Macassar International Writers’ Festival (Indonesia)

The Rights Professional Award, sponsored by Sharjah Book Authority: Tuomas Sorjamaa, Ferly (Finland)

Eligible for entries from all countries, including the UK:

Accessible Books Consortium International Excellence Award: Publisher: Macmillan Learning (USA)

Accessible Books Consortium International Excellence Award: Initiative: Fondazione LIA (Italy)

Eligible for entries from the UK only:

Inclusivity in Publishing Award, supported by the Publishers Association: Bonnier

Winners around the world will be sent their International Excellence Awards by The London Book Fair.

CAMEO AWARDS

Four exceptional winners have been announced for the fourth annual Creativity Across Media: Entertainment and Originality Awards (CAMEOs). The awards recognise the best book adaptations across film, TV, audio and stage, celebrating books at the heart of the creative industries. The 2020 winners are: 

BOOK TO FILM AWARD

Little Women

Book original by Louisa May Alcott

Directed by: Greta Gerwig

Screenplay: Greta Gerwig

BOOK TO STAGE AWARD

Life of Pi

Book original by Yann Martel (Canongate)

Adapted by Lolita Chakrabarti for Sheffield Crucible

BOOK TO TV AWARD

Elizabeth is Missing

Book original by Emma Healey (Penguin)

Adapted by Andrea Gibb

BOOK TO AUDIO AWARD

Norse Mythology

Book original by Neil Gaiman

(Bloomsbury)

Adapted by Penguin Random House

Jacks Thomas, Director of The London Book Fair and London Book & Screen Week, said: “From classic stories to modern novels, the past year has seen a wealth of fantastic adaptations across stage, audio and screen, that speak to the valuable role books play within the creative industries. We know that adapted works tend to attract more revenue and critical acclaim than their counterparts and this year’s wonderful winners also show how adaptations allow great books to be enjoyed again and again in new forms and by new generations.”

Expert judges from all sectors of the entertainment industry deliberated across each of the categories. This year’s judges, chaired by Helen Macaleer, are: Philippa Donovan (Smart Quill), Philippa Milnes Smith (Soho Agency), Katrien Roos (Harbottle and Lewis), John Lomas (Bullivant/Kickback Media), Hayley Steed (Madeleine Milburn Agency), Colin Williams (Sixteen South), Videl Bar Kar (Bookwire), Jessica Maslen (Blair Partnership), Tamsin Collison, Julia Posen, Charlotte Longstaff (LW Theatres), Rina Gill (RGM Productions).

Little Women was adapted from the 1868 novel by Louisa May Alcott, widely acknowledged to be one of the most influential books in the canon of 19th century American literature, and which has seen several prior adaptations to stage and film since the novel’s original publication. Among a star-studded cast it featured Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Eliza Scanlen and Laura Dern as the sisters of the March family, and was directed by acclaimed director Greta Gerwig. The judges were impressed with this “clever and stunning adaptation of a classic book, retold through the eyes of an adult woman making the story completely relevant to a modern audience.”

Life of Pi was adapted for stage by screenwriter and RADA graduate Lolita Chakrabarti for Sheffield Crucible from Yann Martel’s award-winning 2001 novel. With the show having received rave reviews in The Observer, The Sunday Times and The Mail on Sunday, the judges felt that “this impressive and immersive adaptation was a huge accomplishment. To present the dramatisation of a beloved and metaphorical book with such innovation, skill and phenomenal storytelling is a true credit to the team involved.”

Elizabeth is Missing was adapted from Emma Healey’s 2014 novel, which that year won the Costa Book Award for Best First Novel. Starring Glenda Jackson, Liv Hill and Sophie Rundle among others, it was adapted by novel it was adapted by Scottish screenwriter Andrea Gibb and was directed by BAFTA award-winning director Aisling Walsh. Broadcast on BBC One at the end of 2019, the judges were “very moved by the incredibly strong adapted script and the compelling performances from all the actors, with special mention for Glenda Jackson's virtuoso performance in this powerful family story.”

Norse Mythology was adapted from Neil Gaiman’s 2017 retelling of stories from Norse Mythology. It was adapted by Penguin Random House for its BBC Digital Audio imprint, and Diana Rigg, Derek Jacobi, Colin Morgan, Natalie Dormer and Neil Gaiman himself among its stellar cast. The judges commented that the adaptation “was an excellent production bringing a key pantheon of half-forgotten gods to a modern audience in both an entertaining and educational way. The judges loved the ambition of this audio book.”

UK BOOK BLOG AWARDS

The winners of The London Book Fair’s UK Book Blog Awards 2020 winners are:

Book Podcaster of the Year: Caroline O’Donoghue’s Sentimental Garbage

The judges said ‘Sentimental Garbage is slick, brilliantly edited and a lot of fun to listen to. Caroline created the podcast to question why chick-lit tends to be overlooked as ‘literature’… with great guests and a fantastic selection of books, it starts important conversations!’

The Comma Press Podcast was also highly commended by the judges, who added ‘This indie, literary podcast produces above its cloud. It’s only the beginning, and we are excited to hear more.’

Book Vlogger of the Year Award: Leena Norms

Judges said of Leena Norms, created by 2019 Trailblazer, Leena Normington: ‘Leena is warm, personable and engaging – a natural. Her content is refreshing and fun, and we love her authentic voice!’

Book Blogger of the Year: Julia’s Bookcase

Judges commented: ‘Julia’s Bookcase is varied, readable and thorough – centring on the reading experience. There is a fantastic range of content, including the ‘Bookshop Guides’ to different towns across the UK and tips on how to use Instagram.’

Bookstagrammer of the Year: What Sally Read Next

Judges said: ‘‘What Sally Read Next has as much style as substance. With a fantastic following and great engagement, Sally is committed to posting various types of content. Her flat lay is beautiful, with a good mix of new and old book titles, bookshops and personal pictures.’ 

Helen Clifford, Marketing Manager of The London Book Fair, said “We are so pleased to recognise the brilliant work being done by our winners to engage with fellow readers, promote new and forgotten books, and champion all kinds of authors. The incredible quality of the longlists really showcases the impressive range of talent and creativity to be found in the more bookish corners of social media and underlines why influencers are so key for the publishing industry.”

The judging panel, comprised of experts from across the book industry: Paul Black (Publicity Director at Andersen Press), Rosie Beaumont-Thomas (Events & Outreach Manager at Royal Society of Literature) and Shahroo Izadi (author of The Last Diet and The Kindness Method), all of whom returned to judge the Awards for a second year.

The UK Book Blog Awards 2020 shortlist is announced as below:

Book Blogger:

Bluebird Reviews

By CK Robertson

Julia’s Bookcase

Bookstagrammer:

The Halcyon Days of Summer

What Sally Read Next

Zubs Covered

Book Vlogger:

Leena Norms

Lonesome Reader

The Book Belle

Book Podcaster:

Down the Rabbit Hole

Sentimental Garbage

The Comma Press Podcast

The London Book Fair will return from 9 to 11 March 2021.