Costa Book Awards 1992: Complete list of winners

The 1992 Costa Book Awards showcased a particularly adventurous year in British publishing, with winners who weren’t afraid to experiment with form and ambition. Victoria Glendinning’s Trollope brought Victorian literary history vividly to life in the biography category, while Alasdair Gray’s audaciously inventive Poor Things claimed the novel prize—a postmodern achievement that announced Gray as one of the boldest writers of his generation. The awards demonstrated the breadth that Britain’s reading culture could embrace, from the playful to the scholarly, from debut authors to established masters.

Perhaps most striking was the recognition of risk-taking across nearly every category. Gillian Cross’s The Great Elephant Chase won the children’s book award with a sprawling adventure narrative, while Jeff Torrington’s exuberant Swing Hammer Swing! earned the first novel prize for its raw energy and Glasgow street vernacular. Tony Harrison’s The Gaze of the Gorgon brought his distinctive brand of socially conscious verse to the poetry category, cementing the Costa Book Awards’ reputation for honoring work that challenges as much as it entertains.

The Costa Book Awards, known since 1971 for recognizing excellence across multiple categories while championing both celebrated and emerging talent, proved once again why they matter to readers seeking genuine literary discovery. Here are the complete 1992 Costa Book Awards winners:

Biography

• Trollope by Victoria Glendinning

Children’s Book

• The Great Elephant Chase by Gillian Cross

First Novel

• Swing Hammer Swing! by Jeff Torrington

Novel

• Poor Things by Alasdair Gray

Poetry

• The Gaze of the Gorgon by Tony Harrison