The cafe chain pulls plug on annual literature prizes, and there are no plans for it to be taken over by a new sponsor

The Costa Book Awards have been dissolved after 50 years, as organisers refuse to seek another sponsor.

Established in 1971 as the Whitbread Book Awards, the prize, celebrating literary works popular with the reading public, has been sponsored by cafe chain Costa since 2006.

The company has announced that it has ended the Costa Book Awards, and that “there are currently no plans for it to be taken over” by another sponsor, effectively dissolving the 50-year-old prize.

Costa has also said that there are no plans to revive the awards, which have promoted popular fiction, poetry, and biography, and steered the literary market in the UK.

Correspondent Evan Harvey, Literature Initiative

Source https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/06/10/costa-book-awards-end-50-years/