British Book Awards 2023: Almost 50 Jurors Now Chosen

In News by Porter Anderson

The 2023 edition of the British Book Awards in London names 47 jurors to the task of choosing this year’s ‘Nibbies’ winners.

At the British Book Awards’ 2022 ceremony in London. Image: From the live video feed, British Book Awards

By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson

The 2o23 edition of the British Book Awards, also called the Nibbies, has announed its many jurors for this year’s set of one of the biggest arrays of categories in publishing’s many contests.

Those categories include:

  • Children’s Illustrated
  • Children’s Nonfiction
  • Children’s Fiction
  • Crime and Thriller
  • Debut Fiction
  • Fiction
  • “Pageturner”
  • Nonfiction: Lifestyle and Illustrated
  • Nonfiction: Narrative
  • Audiobook: Fiction
  • Audiobook: Nonfiction
  • “Discover”
  • Overall Book of the Year

Although the British Book Awards traditionally include a large contingent of industry awards, it’s these public-facing accolades that get most of the promotional attention.

‘Stirred Our Hearts and Imaginations’

Image: British Book Awards

This set of awards, for example, is said in media messaging today (February 2) to showcase “the authors and illustrators who have stirred our hearts and imaginations, and the industry behind the scenes that has brought them to readers.”

The awards ceremony this year is set for May 15, again at London’s Grosvenor House, and shortlists are anticipated by March.

A trend toward “celebrity” jurors continues this year, and when those are included in the overall list, the program is fielding 47 jurors.

Philip Jones

The British Book Awards are a brand of The Bookseller, of course, as Publishing Perspectives readers know, and in a prepared statement on the news of the chosen jurors, Bookseller editor Philip Jones is quoted, saying, “We are delighted to welcome such an illustrious crop of judges to this year’s celebrations. The breadth, range, and profile of those joining us this year are both a reminder of the stature of the British Book Awards.”

Jurors announced today include:

  • Helen Thorn
  • Liz Pichon
  • Poorna Bell
  • Dorothy Koomson
  • Louise Johns-Sheperd
  • Zoey Dixon
  • Vaseem Khan
  • Abir Mukherjee
  • Imriel Morgan
  • Jake Hope
  • Anna Bassi
  • Nina Findley
  • Imogen Russell Williams
  • Alison Flood
  • Sharon Canavar
  • Lucy Knight
  • Alice Kemp-Habib
  • Matthew Cornford
  • Joanne Finney
  • Bea Carvalho
  • Paula Sutton
  • Ashley Bruce

Among those categorized as featured jurors announced today are:

  • Krishnan Guru-Murthy, of Channel 4 News
  • Anita Rani, also a broadcaster as well as an author
  • Joseph Coelho, a Waterstones Children’s award laureate
  • Vick hope, another broadcaster and radio host
  • Ellie Taylor, a comedian and actor
  • Alexandra Schulman, a journalist and author
  • Fleur Sinclair, the owner of Sevenoaks Bookshop
  • Simon Richardson, a BBC producer
  • Lauren Layfield, broadcaster and writer

We’ll have more details of this year’s award cycle as the May ceremony approaches.


More on the British Book Awards is here. More from us on publishing and book awards in general is here. And more on the UK book market and industry is herePorter Anderson is a former associate editor of The FutureBook at The Bookseller.

About the Author

Porter Anderson

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Porter Anderson is a non-resident fellow of Trends Research & Advisory, and he has been named International Trade Press Journalist of the Year in London Book Fair's International Excellence Awards. He is Editor-in-Chief of Publishing Perspectives. He formerly was Associate Editor for The FutureBook at London's The Bookseller. Anderson was for more than a decade a senior producer and anchor with CNN.com, CNN International, and CNN USA. As an arts critic (Fellow, National Critics Institute), he was with The Village Voice, the Dallas Times Herald, and the Tampa Tribune, now the Tampa Bay Times. He co-founded The Hot Sheet, a newsletter for authors, which now is owned and operated by Jane Friedman.