The British Book Awards--aka the Nibbies--ceremony was held Monday night in London, celebrating books and the people who make them by acknowledging "the profound connection between the books, their makers, and their audience." The festivities included awards for books as well as the book trade.
My focus, naturally, was on indie bookstores. In March, the Bookseller had announced the nine regional and country Nibbie winners, recognizing bookshops that "continue to draw book lovers to towns and cities across the United Kingdom and Ireland." They were all in contention for overall indie bookshop honors, but it was Midlands winner the Heath Bookshop in Birmingham, U.K., that came away with the 2025 Independent Bookshop of the Year title.
"In many ways, the triumph of the Heath Bookshop is a microcosm of the vibrancy of modern independent bookselling," said Tom Tivnan, the Bookseller's managing editor and chair of the Independent Bookshop of the Year judges. "The two owners, Catherine Gale and Claire Dawes, were book industry outsiders who brought entrepreneurship and innovation, taking a scant couple of years to build their business into a thriving community hub. There is a great Sliding Doors backstory--the two happened to meet by chance at a Booksellers Association Introduction to Bookselling training course--but they arrived on the scene with the confidence to take big swings, like launching a book festival in The Heath's second year of trading, but have never stinted on the nitty-gritty of customer service and stock curation. The Heath is a truly worthy winner."
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| Catherine Gale and Claire Dawes | |
The judges said, "Catherine and Claire have created an exciting and fresh kind of bookshop where you feel like you want to hang out. They've done an amazing job with their space and they're not playing it safe--there's a real disruptor energy there."
Gale and Dawes posted on Facebook: "What a night! We're definitely still in shock after winning Independent Bookshop of the Year at The British Book Awards last night.... Kings Heath is a vibrant, diverse, creative, and supportive community and we're so lucky to be a part of it. We wanted to create a safe space for anybody and everybody and hoped people would see themselves reflected on our shelves and at the heart of everything we do. We never expected the support we've had! As Claire said last night, come to Birmingham, it's not shit!!"
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| Carolyn Bain | |
This year's Nibbie for Individual Bookseller of the Year went to Carolynn Bain of Afrori Books, Brighton and Hove. At the awards ceremony, Bain said, "Okay, so in 2024 we were targeted by Right Wing groups during the race riots... we were encouraged to close the shop and we said no because Afrori Books is a safe space for Black people, and in a race riot we needed a safe space. At three o'clock in the afternoon an old lady came into my shop and I said 'What are you doing here?' and she said 'I've brought my crochet, I'm going to sit in your window, because no-one messes with a crocheting granny.'
"That granny used her privilege to protect books, to protect bookshops… we are not going anywhere, I want to encourage you too to use your privilege. You have the power to change that, use your privilege to change that for women, for Palestine, for Congo. Use your privilege to change that."
Wonderland Bookshop, Retford, was honored as the Children's Bookseller of the Year Award for its work collaborating with dozens of schools, providing books to under-privileged students in a pay it forward scheme. Owner Helen Tamblyn-Saville, said: "Those of you know me know I'm not lost for words very often. But I'm genuinely lost for words.... I want to say a massive thank you to the booksellers, librarians, industry, authors and illustrators."
Some of the regional Indie Bookshop of the Year category winners who attended the awards ceremony checked in on social media, including:
Bridge Books, Dromore, Northern Ireland: "Congratulations to The Heath Bookshop who won the overall title of Independent Bookshop of the Year! Lovely people and great company on the night.... I'm still very, very proud of winning the title of Regional Winner (Island of Ireland)."
Medina Bookshop, Cowes: "We may not have won, but we had such a fabulous time at the @britishbookawards!... A huge congratulations to @theheathbookshop for winning the award!! And to all the other bookshops nominated."
Maldon Books, Maldon: "We had such a brilliant time at the British Book Awards last night! What a great excuse to get dressed up and celebrate being shortlisted for Independent Bookshop of the year, and Bookseller of the year! Huge congratulations to all the winners, there are truly wonderful things happening in the world of books and amazing people making those things happen. We're so proud of our team, and we can't believe we were shortlisted alongside so many bookshops and booksellers we look up to. Thank you for having us and giving these booksellers a chance to let their hair down! Well done to The Heath Bookshop and all the indie bookshops!"
Reflecting on the 35-year history of the Nibbies, the Bookseller's editor Philip Jones said, "We resist the censoring, the sidelining and the stealing of our stories, as well as the narrowing of access to books. History shows us that society is at its best when we are at its heart, and that heart is open. If you stand for reading then we stand with you."