Living Canon

Costa Book Awards 2019: Complete list of winners

The 2019 Costa Book Awards crowned five remarkable works across their annual categories, cementing what has become one of the UK and Ireland’s most prestigious literary honors. The Costa Book Awards, long celebrated for championing accessible, beautifully written literature, revealed winners that span genres and voices—from Jonathan Coe’s sweeping social novel Middle England taking the top fiction prize to Sara Collins’s captivating debut The Confessions of Frannie Langton, which claimed the First Novel award and would go on to achieve remarkable commercial success. These selections reflect what makes the Costa awards distinctive: a genuine commitment to finding books that resonate with readers beyond the literary establishment.

What’s particularly striking about this year’s Costa Book Awards winners is their diversity of perspective and ambition. Jasbinder Bilan’s Asha & the Spirit Bird brought imaginative storytelling to young readers, while Jack Fairweather’s biography The Volunteer demonstrated the enduring appetite for meticulously researched historical narratives. Mary Jean Chan’s poetry collection Flèche rounded out the roster, affirming that the Costa awards recognize excellence across all forms of literary expression. Together, these five winners offer a snapshot of contemporary British and Irish writing at its most vital—work that entertains, enlightens, and challenges readers in equal measure.

Below, we dive deeper into each 2019 Costa Book Award winner and what distinguished them in the eyes of the judges:

Biography

Children’s Book

First Novel

Novel

Poetry