Nothing lasts forever. And so, the Costa Prizes are no more. It’s a sad ending for what are, arguably, the most popular book prizes in the UK. It’s a prize I dreamed of winning and had the honour of judging this year.
I was a judge for the final prize, worth £30K to the winner. Each category winner received £5K. Along with Judy Murray and Reeta Chakrabarti, and the chairs of each category, we compared the poetry, non-fiction, first novel, children’s book and biography winners to award an overall prize. After a match worthy of Wimbledon, Hannah Lowe emerged the overall winner for her poetry collection The Kids. She is now the last ever Costa Prize winner.
