Costa Book Of The Year - latest news

Press Release - London, 20 January 2011:

With the 2010 Costa Book Awards only five days away, the latest odds from bookmakers William Hill have Costa Biography Award winner Edmund de Waal as odds-on favourite with his acclaimed memoir, The Hare With Amber Eyes, at 13-8.

In second place, at 11-4, is novelist and former journalist, Maggie O'Farrell, with her fifth novel, The Hand That First Held Mine; and in third place, at 4-1, is poet Jo Shapcott with her collection, Of Mutability, her first new work in over a decade.

Closely behind in joint fourth place are debut writers Kishwar Desai, winner of the Costa First Novel Award for Witness the Night, the first book of a series featuring the unconventional female protagonist, Simran Singh, and first-time children's writer and freelance web designer, Jason Wallace, for Out of Shadows, inspired by his experiences of growing up in a tough boarding-school in Zimbabwe during the aftermath of the war for independence.

Edmund de Waal, The Hare With Amber Eyes 13/8
Maggie O'Farrell, The Hand That First Held Mine 11/4
Jo Shapcott, Of Mutability 4/1
Kishwar Desai, Witness the Night 5/1
Jason Wallace, Out of Shadows 5/1

The Costa Book Awards recognise the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland. Formerly known as the Whitbread Book Awards, Costa announced its takeover of the sponsorship of the UK's prestigious and popular book prize in 2006.

The five Costa Book Award winners, each of whom will receive £5,000, were selected from 540 entries. The five books are now eligible for the ultimate prize, the 2010 Costa Book of the Year, worth a further £30,000.

The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony at Quaglino's in central London on Tuesday 25th January 2011 by a panel of judges chaired by the publisher and broadcaster Andrew Neil.