- 12/05/2025
- Posted by: Valerie Vaz MP
- Category: News
I was delighted to attend the British Book Awards at the Grosvenor Hotel on 12 May 2025 now in its 35th year as a guest of The Bookseller and the Reading Agency.
There was a new Category for Library of the Year and the winners were Manchester Libraries. The librarians who received the award were Cheryl Pridgeon, Danny Middleton and Margaret Duff. I was pleased to be pictured with them, left and below right.
Other parts of the industry such as marketing, rights, production were also recognised in addition to authors. Rob Biddulph was named Illustrator of the Year. Rob is a great attender of events in Parliament.
The overall Book of the Year was awarded to “Patriot” by the late Alexei Navalny. One Judge said publishing the book was a huge feat, published by The Bodley Head in 40 different countries at the same time.
Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler were awarded a Nibbie for Children’s Illustrated for Jonty Gentoo: the Adventures of a Penguin, above left, and the actor Stanley Tucci won for his book “What I Ate in One Year” pictured above right.
Percival Everett, won overall Author of the Year, and Fiction Book of the year for his novel James, a reimagining of Mark Twain’s, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. He is pictured below accepting his awards via zoom.
