The British Book Awards (the Nibbies) recently named nine regional and country winners for this year's Independent Bookshop of the Year, selected by the judges from 77 finalists. Sponsored by Gardners, the prize celebrates bookshops that "continue to support local communities with creative, specialist and community-centered activities."
These select booksellers are now in contention for the overall Independent Bookshop of the Year Award, which will be announced May 13 at the BBA ceremony in London. The overall winner also competes for Book Retailer of the Year.
Thinking about those nine shops, each with its own personality and mission, supported by a unique community, prompted me embark on a brief virtual tour to see how they reacted to the good news. Here's a bit of what I found in my travels:
"Thrilled to be named 'Best Independent Bookshop in Wales' for the 5th time!" noted 2020 overall winner Book-ish, which has a shop in Crickhowell and during the past year held a successful crowdfunder to open a second store in nearby Abergavenny.
East England winner Kett's Books, Wymondham, posted: "We don't apply every year, because we often feel that our achievements are very apparent to the people they matter to--but it's been such a big year, with so many people pulling together, we want to shout nationally about how customers, volunteers, friends and staff have created and developed a really special bookshop in Wymondham."
The Secret Bookshelf, Carrickfergus, which is the first bookshop in Northern Ireland to win the regional title, wrote: "Oh wow, wow, wow! We are bookstore of the year for the island of Ireland, and we are stunned. Thank you to all of you for your support (and craic!)--well done to all the Ireland finalists.... Stunned. We need a coffee.... Stunned here! And, most of all, to our fab customers!"
Brick Lane Bookshop, winner in the London region and the oldest bookshop among the regional winners, posted: "For those of you who don't know, this year Brick Lane Bookshop is celebrating its twentieth anniversary of being on Brick Lane. But before that, other versions of the shop could be found throughout East London since 1978! One constant throughout these iterations has been pillar-of-the-community and owner of Brick Lane Bookshop, Denise Jones. After being named London's Independent Bookshop of the Year, we thought it would be good to see some of Denise's favorite books."
"Eeeeeee!" That was the reaction of Midlands winner the Poetry Pharmacy, launched five years ago by "Emergency Poet" Deborah Alma, who "prescribes poetry and other beautiful books to anyone who walks through their doors, taking pride in being the first in the world to do so."
The Book Nook in Stewarton, the Scotland winner, wrote: "I have been absolutely overwhelmed with all the lovely messages of congratulations on The Book Nook's win that I have received over the past few days! I am trying to thank everyone individually, but have not been able to keep up completely yet. So if I haven't thanked you personally, please know how much all the messages are appreciated and enjoyed by myself and my team.... We look forward to welcoming you to our award-winning bookshop!"
"WE ONLY FLIPPIN WON! The Northern part anyway--it's the only important bit anyway!" That was the reaction at Wave of Nostalgia in Haworth, the North England winner. The shop also shared celebration videos.
South-West England winner FOLDE, Shaftesbury, which focuses on nature writing, posted: "When we first started our business, we always knew we wanted to do things our own way, and to champion nature and how we engage with it. More than that, we wanted to be a place for conversation and community. To be recognized by our industry for what we do is an amazing endorsement. Thank you to everyone who supports us--we appreciate you all."
Pigeon Books in Southsea, which opened as the first Covid lockdown hit and won the South-East England region, noted: "We've had a bit of time (and a few glasses of wine) to try and process the news, and to be honest we're still not quite convinced that it's real--to be included in such an excellent shortlist of established bookshops is an absolute privilege and an unbelievable honor. At least we know that at the very least, we now get a trip to the actual #britishbookawards ceremony in London in May--and who knows, possibly the chance of the actual big prize itself? All we know is that getting this far is an incredible boost to our little shop and yet again reminds us of why we do what we do--and thank you yet again for all your support and kind words as always!"
Noting that this has been among the most competitive Independent Bookshop of the Year judging processes since the award was conceived, Tom Tivnan, the Bookseller's managing editor, said, "Indie bookshops across the U.K. and Ireland are thriving and have met the very difficult recent trading conditions with creativity and cutting-edge innovation. What is truly cheering is that we see this in new shops that have popped up since the pandemic to venerable stores which have been trading for decades. In the last few years I have been calling this period an indie bookshop renaissance, but I think we have gone beyond that, we are in the golden age."