The winners of the British Book Awards 2022, also known as The Nibbies, were announced in a ceremony in London, UK on Monday, May 23, 2022.
The British Book Awards or Nibbies were founded by Fred Newman, the founder, editor and publisher of Publishing News who ran them from 1990–2009. They were then acquired by Agile Marketing who renamed it the National Book Awards. In 2017, the award was acquired by The Bookseller who reverted it to the original British Book Awards or The Nibbies. In 2020, Bernardine Evaristo, Candice Carty-Williams, and Oyinkan Braithwaite were among the winners while David Olusoga was the sole winner in 2021.
Like in previous years, the awards for 2022 were in the categories of fiction, fiction debut, nonfiction lifestyle, nonfiction narrative, children’s fiction, children’s nonfiction, children’s illustrated, discover, crime and thriller, page-turner, audiobook: fiction, and audiobook: nonfiction. The shortlists were announced on March 25 before the winner was revealed in last night’s ceremony at Grosvenor House in London.
Here are the writers of African descent who won on the night;
- Fiction Debut: Caleb Azumah Nelson, Open Water (Penguin General, Viking)
- Children’s Nonfiction: Marcus Rashford with Carl Anka, You are a Champion (Macmillan Children’s Books)
- Children’s Illustrated: Dapo Adeola and 18 illustrators, Hey You! (Penguin Random House, Puffin)
- Discover: Jade LB, Keisha the Sket (#MerkyBooks)
Here are some of the responses to the win;
Last night was so special 💙so so grateful for the love for Open Water, this one means the world! 🙏🏾
Caleb Azumah Nelson
Well would you look at that! Shout out to us we’re CHILDREN’S PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR ✨✨✨
Aimée Felone
A whole me and my non connecting facial hairs won Illustrator of the year you know Thank you to my agent and the authors, editors, designers and publicists I’ve worked with so far. To all the readers 🥰 and to all of you that support my endeavours. I’m proper grateful. 💚
Dapo Adeola
