Costa announces book of the year contest winner

Originally established in 1971, the Costa Coffee Book Awards serve to promote groundbreaking novels that may have been previously overlooked. This year, the book of the year was awarded to Monique Roffrey, a senior lecturer for creative writing at Manchester Metropolitan University, for her novel The Mermaid of the Black Conch.

This is Roffrey’s sixth novel, utterly loved by readers for its unique take on an indigenous Caribbean legend. Her novel was widely commended for its Caribbean representation and strong female characters. The prize itself won Monique £30,000, saying she was “delighted” at her win and says its a win for Caribbean literature.

Along with Novel of the Year, Costa also awards prizes to other categories, such as Children’s books, Poetry and Short stories. This incentive ensures that wonderful pieces of literature are exposed to wider audiences to give them the recognition they deserve. They highlight novels with great representation, characters and intrigue.

These literature picks come at a great time, in the midst of a third lockdown when everybody needs a distraction. With reading being a huge part of the first lockdown, hopefully a few suggestions will be able to inspire readers to continue loving literature even in the hardest of times.