Indie Book Awards Shortlists 2021 revealed
Scala Radio will announce the winners on Friday 25 June
Last updated 14th May 2021
The shortlist for the Indie Book Awards 2021, the annual awards curated by independent bookshops as part of Independent Bookshop Week (19-26 June 2021), has been revealed today.
The Indie Book Awards celebrate paperback books of the year in fiction, non-fiction, children’s fiction and picture book categories, as voted for by independent booksellers across the UK and Ireland. The awards spotlight indie bookshops organised by the Booksellers Association.
During Independent Bookshop Week, Bookshop.org and Blackwell’s will be hosting virtual events featuring some of the shortlisted authors listed below.
A judging panel of independent booksellers and authors will decide on the four winners, to be announced at 10am on Friday 25 June 2021, the penultimate day of Independent Bookshop Week. And here on Scala Radio we'll be announcing the winners.
Which books are shortlisted for the Indie Book Awards 2021?
FICTION SHORTLIST
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid (Bloomsbury Publishing)
Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (Picador)
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig (Canongate)
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (Viking)
Summerwater by Sarah Moss (Picador)
Love After Love by Ingrid Persaud (Faber & Faber)
NON-FICTION SHORTLIST
The Wild Silence by Raynor Winn (Michael Joseph)
My Name Is Why by Lemn Sissay (Canongate)
The Stubborn Light of Things by Melissa Harrison (Faber & Faber)
Humankind by Rutger Bregman (Bloomsbury Publishing)
Agent Sonya: Lover, Mother, Soldier Spy by Ben Macintyre (Viking)
Hungry by Grace Dent (Mudlark)
CHILDREN’S FICTION SHORTLIST
Tamarind & the Star of Ishta by Jasbinder Bilan (Chicken House)
Windrush Child by Benjamin Zephaniah (Scholastic)
The Night Bus Hero by Onjali Q. Rauf (Orion Children's)
The Great Godden by Meg Rosoff (Bloomsbury)
Voyage of the Sparrowhawk by Natasha Farrant (Faber Children’s)
Vi Spy: Licence to Chill by Maz Evans (Chicken House)
PICTURE BOOK SHORTLIST
The Bear, the Piano & Little Bear's Concert by David Litchfield (Frances Lincoln Children's Books)
Julian at the Wedding by Jessica Love (Walker Books)
The Hospital Dog by Julia Donaldson & Sara Ogilvie (Macmillan Children’s Books)
Dog Gone by Rob Biddulph (HarperCollins Children’s Books)
Rain Before Rainbows by Smriti Halls, illustrated by David Litchfield (Walker Books)
The Girl and the Dinosaur by Hollie Hughes & Sarah Massini (Bloomsbury Children’s Books)
The judging panel for the Adult categories is made up of booksellers including Tina Gaisford-Waller (Winstone’s Hunting Raven Books), Saber Khan (Toppings, Bath), Sam Fisher (Burley Fisher Books), Alice Carr (Blackwell’s, Edinburgh) and Hachette author Will Dean.
The Children’s categories will be judged by Nicola Lee (Children’s Bookshop, Lindley), Mariana Mouzinho (Seven Stories, The National Centre for Children’s Books), India Chambers (Round Table Books), Gill Edwards (Little Ripon Bookshop) and Hachette author Patrice Lawrence.
Discover more books in the Scala Radio Book Club and listen to Mark Forrest interview authors every Thursday from 11am.