Celebrating Our Prizewinning Authors…

It has been a winning summer for our authors and their books. We have seen three books published through our publishing imprints win important book prizes this month.

Firstly, our sister company, The Book Guild, has won the 2023 STR Theatre Book Prize with Oliver Ford Davies' autobiography, An Actor's Life in 12 Productions. William Purefoy, one of the judges praised Oliver's book: 'I loved this book from the very beginning largely because of its engaging, almost conversational style but also because of its honesty and humility. I found it extremely saddening to read in such illuminating and erudite terms of the almost entire extinction of the world of regional repertory theatre, a loss which seems simultaneously irretrievable and tragic.' Congratulations to Oliver and The Book Guild Team on this win.

In late May, The People's Book Prize picked Philip Pavlovic's novel, For the Love of Roman, as their best Fiction book of 2023 following the public vote. The book was praised for being compelling, heartbreaking and page-turning by the readers who voted.

Finally, Troubador is also celebrating a win with the news that Brian Goggin's Waterways and Means - Power, Money and Folly in Irish Waterways History has won the best Waterway and Canal title of 2023 in the Transport History Book Awards (run by the Railway and Canal Historical Society). Now in their 20th year, these awards recognise the best books in transport history. The judges noted that: 'Brian was diagnosed with terminal cancer in the summer of 2020. He assembled a collection of articles from his website and elsewhere which could be published posthumously. His family completed the task and this volume is the result. It deserves a wide audience both for its coverage of Irish waterways history and for its novel and innovative approach.' Brian's book is now out of print, having now sold out, but many congratulations to Brian's family whose work in bringing the book to publication on Brian's behalf has been acknowledged with this award.

Being shortlisted and winning book prizes is a wonderful recognition of the excellence of authors, books and writing found within the indie and self-publishing sector. Brian, Philip and Oliver join a host of other Troubador and Book Guild authors who've won or been shortlisted for book prizes over the years and join the following roll of honour. 

• 2020 Cornish in the Caribbean (Sue Appleby). Shortlisted for the Holyer An Gof Prize.
• 2019 Coffee and Wine (Morten Scholer). Winner at the 2019 Gourmand International Book Awards (Coffee Category) and shortlisted at the International Organisation of Vine and Wine's book awards. RGS Atalantas (Alan Shattock) and The Blunt End of the Grid (Dave Roberts) were both shortlisted for the Royal Automobile Club Motoring Book of the Year Awards.
• 2017 The World Tea Encyclopedia (Will Battle). Gourmand Cookbook Awards (Books on Tea category).
• 2015 City Centre (Simon Halliday). Winner of the British Sports Book Award 'Best Rugby Book Category.'
• 2014 Once Upon a Time in Ghana (Anna Cottrell). Best Book 2014 in the African Children's Literature awards. Darke Mission (Scot Caldon) won the fiction category of The People's Book Prize 2014/15.
• 2013 Ante's Inferno (Griselda Heppel) won the Children's award in the People's Book Prize 2013. Theatres of War (R J J Hall). Winner of The People's Book Prize (fiction) 2013/14.
• 2011 The Story of Your Life (James Lambie). Winner of the British Sports Book Award 'Best Racing Book Category.'