16th May 2025


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Feature


The British Book Awards 2025: Pictures from the biggest night of the year


The star-studded 35th British Book Awards celebrated a wealth of talent in the world of books


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Pictured: Kishan Rajani ( 1), Saara El-Arifi ( 2), Axel Scheffler and Julia Donaldson ( 3), Rhys Stephenson and Amanda Ridout ( 4), Rob Biddulph ( 7), Sanjee de Silva ( 8), Carolynn Bain ( 9), Coco from @cultofbooks ( 10), Amanda Harris ( 11), Abir Mukherjee ( 13), Rose Ayling-Ellis ( 14)


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ercival Everett, Asako Yuzuki, Stanley Tucci ( 5) and Alexei Navalny were named among the winners of The British Book Awards, revealed in a star-studded ceremony


at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, on 12th May. Prizes were awarded across 12 Book of the Year selections, as well as trade categories such as Publisher, Retailer, Individual Bookseller and Library. A special award for Social Impact in celebration of publisher Allen Lane was given to Kate Mosse ( 6), author and founder director of the Women’s Prize. The Overall Book of the Year was awarded to


Patriot byNavalny, the posthumous memoir of the Russian opposition leader, which also won the Non-Fiction: Narrative Book of the Year, beating Boris Johnson, Gillian Anderson and Sir Chris Hoy.


Philip Jones ( 12), editor of The Bookseller


and chair of The British Book Awards, said: “The 35th year of these fabulous awards was the best yet, combining politics with pluralism, grit with hope, joy with defiance. Our winners – among them Percival Everett, Kate Mosse, Rob Biddulph, Julia Donaldson, Waterstones and Bloomsbury – speak to the great strengths of this trade. Excellence. Fortitude. Imagination. Defiance. Longevity. Ingenuity.” The evening began with author Jacqueline


Wilson reading a short history of The British Book Awards, founded in 1990 by Publishing News. “Everyone else called them… the Nibbies, because of the little bronze trophy, shaped like a pen nib.” A full list of winners can be found in our accompanying winners’ supplement.


Features


The British Book Awards 2025


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