| The Nero Book Awards | |
| Awarded For: | the book you would most want to press into the hands of friends and family |
| Sponsor: | Caffè Nero |
| Year2: | Active |
The Nero Book Awards are British literary awards, inaugurated in 2023.[1] They are run by coffeehouse chain Caffè Nero in partnership with the Booksellers' Association, Brunel University London and Right To Dream, "a football community dedicated to expanding people's understanding of excellence through football".[2] [3]
The awards are made in four categories: children's fiction, fiction, debut fiction, and non-fiction. A short list of four is drawn up for each category, and category winners are chosen, receiving £5,000. There is then a further selection process before one of the category winners is awarded the £30,000 "Golden Nero" award as "Book of the year". The awards are open to books published in the UK and Ireland, and at the time of entry the author must be alive and have been resident in the UK or Ireland for three years. The criteria for the awards are described as: "Our judges will be asked to choose the books they would most want to press into the hands of friends and family for their quality and readability."
For the 2023 awards, announced in 2024 for books published predominantly in 2023, the timeline was:[4]
A similar pattern of eligibility and submission dates has been announced for the 2024 awards.[9]
Overall winner for each year show in boldface. Category winners indicated by highlighted row.
| Year | Author | Title | Publisher | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Hamish Hamilton | Overall winner Fiction category winner | [10] | ||
| Eleanor Catton | Birnam Wood | Granta | Fiction shortlist | ||
| Megan Nolan | Ordinary Human Failings | Jonathan Cape | |||
| Karen Powell | Fifteen Wild Decembers | Europa | |||
| Close to Home | Debut fiction category winner | [11] | |||
| The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa | Bloomsbury | Debut fiction shortlist | |||
| Tom Crewe | The New Life | Chatto & Windus | |||
| Chloe Michelle Howarth | Sunburn | Verve | |||
| Puffin | Children's fiction category winner | ||||
| Lex Croucher | Gwen and Art Are Not in Love | Bloomsbury | Children's fiction shortlist | ||
| Kat Dunn | Bitterthorn | Andersen Press | |||
| Candy Gourlay | Wild Song | David Fickling | |||
| Strong Female Character | Brazen | Non-fiction category winner | |||
| Freya Bromley | The Tidal Year | Coronet | Non-fiction shortlist | ||
| Natasha Carthew | Undercurrent | Coronet | |||
| Victoria Smith | Hags | Fleet |