Costa.co.uk

VOTING OPENS FOR THE
COSTA SHORT STORY AWARD!

Over 1800 entries received
Submissions were judged anonymously
Winner to be voted for by public at www.costabookawards.com and
announced at Costa Book Awards ceremony
Voting opens today and closes at midday on Wednesday 23rd January 2013

Tuesday 27th November 2012: Voting has opened today for the inaugural Costa Short Story
Award; a brand new Award for a single short story that is run in association with the Costa Book Awards but judged independently of the main five-category system. The general public is now invited to vote for its favourite from the shortlist of six stories which can be downloaded either to read or listen to from www.costabookawards.com/short-stories. Over 1800 entries were received in this new competition, open to both published and unpublished writers, for a single, previously unpublished short story of up to 4,000 words by an author aged 18 years or over and written in English. All entries were judged anonymously (ie without the identity of the author being available to the judges) by a panel of five: Richard Beard, Director of the National Academy of Writing; Fanny Blake, novelist, journalist and Books Editor of Woman & Home magazine; actor and writer Gary Kemp, songwriter and guitarist for Spandau Ballet; writer Victoria Hislop; and Simon Trewin, agent at William Morris Endeavor. The judges have selected the following six stories which are now available to read and listen to at www.costabookawards.com/short-stories. They are: 1. Dislocation 2. Don't Try This At Home 3. Millie and Bird 4. Mown Grass 5. Small Town Removal The identities of the winning author and two runners-up will be revealed at the Costa Book Awards ceremony on Tuesday 29th January 2013, when the winner will receive £3,500 and the two runners-up will each receive £750. “It’s fantastic to have received so many entries for this new Award and to see so much great short story writing talent out there,” commented Kevin Hydes, Marketing Director, Costa UK. “It’s been a fascinating process so far and now comes the exciting part - the outcome of this competition is in the public’s hands, so we’re encouraging everyone to read all the stories and The Costa Book Awards recognise the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland. Originally established by Whitbread PLC in 1971, Costa announced its takeover of the sponsorship of the UK’s prestigious and popular book prize in 2006. For more information on this year’s Costa Book Awards, go to www.costabookawards.com.

-ENDS-
______________________________________________________________
For further press information please contact:
Amanda Johnson
Costa Book Awards Press and Publicity
Telephone: 07715 922 180
Email: [email protected]

Notes to Editors:
About the Costa Book Awards:
•
The Costa Book Awards, formerly the Whitbread Book Awards, were established in 1971 to encourage, promote and celebrate the best contemporary British writing. The total prize fund for the Costa Book Awards stands at £55,000. The award winners from the five categories - Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book - each receive £5,000. The overall Costa Book of the Year is selected from the five category Award winners with the winner receiving a further £30,000. Since the introduction of the Book of the Year award in 1985, it has been won ten times by a novel, four times by a first novel, five times by a biography, seven times by a collection of poetry and once by a children’s book. The 2011 winner of the Costa Book of the Year was Andrew Miller for Pure (Sceptre).
About Costa:
The UKs favourite coffee shop

Awarded “Best Branded Coffee Shop Chain in the UK and Ireland" by Allegra Strategies for two
years running (November 2010 & November 2011).

“Best Branded Coffee Chain in Europe” Allegra Strategies November 2011
Costa was founded by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971. Just 1% of the world’s production of coffee is good enough for us to choose from. Only the very best 100% RFA certified coffee available can go into creating the unique taste and aroma of our Mocha Italia blend. Costa is the nation's favourite coffee shop brand and has grown to become the sector leader within the UK and the second largest international coffee shop operator. At present the company has more than 2,000 stores in 25 countries: Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, India, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lebanon, Montenegro, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Ireland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. The Costa Foundation was set up in 2006 to give something back to the communities within the countries from which Costa sources its coffee beans. The Costa Foundation works with an independent charity partner, Charities Trust, and is operating under the auspices of Charities Trust’s registered charity number 327489. Costa Ltd is part of the Whitbread Group PLC.

Source: http://costa.co.uk/media/111264/2012-css-voting-opens.pdf