The British Book Awards 2026 - Winners Revealed
The winners of this year’s British Book Awards - aka the Nibbies - were revealed at a ceremony held on Monday 11 May at Grosvenor House in London.
Hosted by journalist and TV presenter Steph McGovern, this year’s awards particularly celebrated women’s stories, with several female authors winning across the ten shortlisted book categories.
Organised in association with trade publication The Bookseller, the awards recognise authors, publishers and industry professionals across the UK book industry. Categories span fiction, non-fiction, children’s fiction, graphic novels, illustrated books, as well as author, illustrator, bookseller and audiobook of the year.
Nobody’s Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre - the posthumous memoir co-written with journalist Amy Wallace - was the big winner of the night, scooping both Overall Book of the Year and Non-Fiction: Narrative Book of the Year. Meanwhile, Oyinkan Braithwaite won Audiobook: Fiction of the Year for Cursed Daughters.
Authors Jilly Cooper, Joanna Trollope and Sophie Kinsella were also honoured with a special award - The British Book Award for Excellence in Romantic Fiction - in recognition of their significant contribution to the genre.
Alongside this, new Book of the Year categories were introduced for often overlooked genres, including Science Fiction & Fantasy and Romantic Fiction.
The full list of winners for authors (books and audiobooks) is as follows:
Book of the Year
Nobody’s Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, co-written by Amy Wallace (Transworld)
Book of the Year - Audiobook: Fiction
Cursed Daughters by Oyinkan Braithwaite - narrated by Weruche Opia, Diana Yekinni and Nnei Opia Clark (WF Howes)
Book of the Year - Audiobook: Non-Fiction
Careless People, written and narrated by Sarah Wynn-Williams (Macmillan, Pan Macmillan)
Book of the Year - Fiction
Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory (HarperFiction, HarperCollins UK)
Book of the Year - Debut Fiction
The Names by Florence Knapp (Phoenix, The Orion Publishing Group)
Book of the Year - Non-Fiction: Narrative
Nobody’s Girl by Virginia Roberts Giuffre, co-written by Amy Wallace (Doubleday, Transworld)
Book of the Year - Non-Fiction: Lifestyle & Illustrated
Forgotten Churches by Luke Sherlock, illustrated by Ioana Pioaru (Frances Lincoln, The Quarto Group)
Book of the Year - Crime & Thriller
A Case of Mice and Murder by Sally Smith (Raven Books, Bloomsbury)
Book of the Year - Discover
The Mercy Step by Marcia Hutchinson (Cassava Republic Press)
Book of the Year - Science Fiction & Fantasy
Alchemised by SenLinYu (Penguin Michael Joseph)
Book of the Year - Romantic Fiction
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry (Viking, Penguin Random House)
The British Book Award for Excellence in Romantic Fiction
Dame Jilly Cooper, Sophie Kinsella and Joanna Trollope
Book of the Year - Graphic Novel
Bunny vs Monkey: Intergalactic Monkey Business! by Jamie Smart (Phoenix Comic Books, David Fickling Books)
Book of the Year - Children’s Fiction
Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
Book of the Year - Children’s Non-Fiction & Illustrated
Oh Dear, Look What I Got! by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Helen Oxenbury (Walker Books)
Highly commended:
The Wizard’s Guide to Magical Experiments by AJ Wood, illustrated by Jo Rioux (Magic Cat)
