Spanning three categories – Adult, Children’s and  Picture Book – the shortlist includes best-selling authors such as Stephen Fry (Mythos), Pat Barker (The Silence of the Girls) and Julia Donaldson (The Cook and The King), as well as debut writers like Afua Hirsch (Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging) and Onjali Q Raúf (The Boy at the Back of the Class).

Many of the shortlisted authors, including Kes Gray, Emily Haworth-Booth and Catherine Bruton, will be taking part in events in indie bookshops nationwide, as part of Independent Bookshop Week.

Chosen by a judging panel of independent booksellers, authors and industry influencers, the IBW Awards winners will be announced on Friday 14 June 2019, the day before the official start of IBW.

The full IBW Book Awards 2019 shortlist:
The final winner of the Adult category will be chosen by a panel chaired by Nic Bottomley (Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights) and including booksellers Jo Coldwell (Red Lion Books) and Sarah Dennis (Mostly Books), journalist Sian Cain (Online Editor of Guardian Books) and author Vaseem Khan. 

The judging panel of the Children’s category is chaired by Vanessa Lewis (The Book Nook), booksellers James Cross (Rogan’s Books) and Urmi Merchant (Pickled Pepper Books), journalist Imogen Russell Williams (Guardian, Metro and TLS among others) and author and illustrator Steve Antony.

Catherine Doyle, author of The Storm Keeper’s Island, said: “Independent bookshops occupy a vital and special place in our culture. They are treasure troves, unique and vibrant and underpinned, always, by a boundless passion for stories that is both infectious and inviting. I feel particularly lucky that The Storm Keeper's Island has been so wonderfully embraced by independent bookshops this past year and look forward to visiting even more in the months ahead!' 

Elli Woollard, author of Little Bear’s Spring, said: “I feel hugely honoured that some of the best booksellers in the country have shortlisted Little Bear's Spring for the IBW Book Award. Independent booksellers are the lifeblood of the book industry. Passionate, knowledgeable and above all immensely dedicated, they know exactly what books to recommend to their customers...They can encourage you to read not only the books you've always wanted to read, but also those that you never before knew that you wanted to read, those books which seem to have been written specially for you and which become little parts of your soul…Long may they continue to do their outstanding work!’ 

Authors shortlisted for the IBW Book Awards with events during Independent Bookshop Week include:
Catherine Doyle is doing school events with Nomad Books (Fulham, London) on Wednesday 19th June and The Bookcase (Chiswick) on Thursday 20th June Catherine Bruton will launch No Ballet Shoes in Syria at Mr B’s Emporium of Reading Delights (Bath) on Thursday 20th June

Emily Haworth-Booth to do a The King Who Banned the Dark window for Smallprint Books (Forest Hill, London)
Lauren Ace and Jenny Lovlie are doing an event at Cover to Cover (Swansea) on Saturday 15th June
Joseph Coelho will be at Pickled Pepper Books (Crouch End, London), on Thursday 20th June 

For more information about the Independent Book Awards and previous winners, please visit www.indiebookshopweek.org.uk/IBWBookAward. 

Follow the latest developments via social media: #IndieBookshopWeek @BooksAreMyBag