The judging panel of the Costa Book Awards has named Hilary Mantel among the winners in their individual category awards.
Each of the Awards’ five categories has been won by a woman, a first for the Costa Awards (formerly Whitbread Awards) which begun in 1971.
Mantel, who was profiled by the New Statesman in October, won the Best Novel for Bring up the Bodies. Kathleen Jamie triumphed in the poetry category for her collection The Overhaul; while The Innocents by Francesca Segal won the First Novel Award. Sally Gardener, who is a campaigner for dyslexia and who herself suffers severely from the condition, won in the children’s book category with her novel Maggot Moon.
The 2012 category winners list is also the first to feature a graphic work, with wife and husband Mary and Bryan Talbot winning the biography category for Dotter of her Father’s Eyes. The graphic memoir, which is also illustrated by Bryan Talbot, interweaves the stories of Lucia, daughter of James Joyce, and Mary Talbot’s own personal history.
One of the five category winners will be selected to win the overall Costa Book of The Year prize, which was awarded last year to Andrew Miller for his novel Pure.
Each category winner will receive £5,000, while the Book of the Year prize is worth £30,000. The overall winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on 29 January.
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