The Whitbread Awards (1971–2005), called Costa Book Awards since 2006, are literary awards in the United Kingdom, awarded both for high literary merit but also for works considered enjoyable reading. This page gives details of the awards given in the year 2003 .
The Costa Book Awards are a set of annual literary awards recognizing English-language books by writers based in Britain and Ireland. They were inaugurated for 1971 publications and known as the Whitbread Book Awards until 2006 when Costa Coffee, a subsidiary of Whitbread, took over sponsorship. The companion Costa Short Story Award was established in 2012.
This article presents lists of literary events and publications in 2003.
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Catherine Fisher is a Welsh poet and children's novelist who writes in English. She has also worked as a school and university teacher. She lives in the city of Newport, Wales.
The Oracle, with the United States title The Oracle Betrayed, is a young adult fantasy novel by Catherine Fisher, first published in 2003. The Oracle is the first of the Oracle Prophecies Trilogy. The others are The Archon (2004) and The Scarab (2005); with the US titles being The Sphere of Secrets and The Day of the Scarab, respectively. The book was shortlisted for the 2003 Whitbread Awards.
Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo, is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as War Horse (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytelling", for recurring themes such as the triumph of an outsider or survival, for characters' relationships with nature, and for vivid settings such as the Cornish coast or World War I. Morpurgo became the third Children's Laureate, from 2003 to 2005.
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Anne Theresa Donovan was an American women's basketball player and coach. From 2013 to 2015, she was the head coach of the Connecticut Sun.
Buddha Da (2003) is a novel by Scottish author Anne Donovan. It was shortlisted for the 2003 Orange Prize, and the 2003 Whitbread Book Award for a first novel.
Paul Murray is an Irish novelist, the author of the novels An Evening of Long Goodbyes, Skippy Dies and The Mark and the Void.
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Mark Haddon is an English novelist, best known for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003). He won the Whitbread Award, the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award, Guardian Prize, and a Commonwealth Writers Prize for his work.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Its title quotes the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in Arthur Conan Doyle's 1892 short story "The Adventure of Silver Blaze". Haddon and The Curious Incident won the Whitbread Book Awards for Best Novel and Book of the Year, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book, and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize. Unusually, it was published simultaneously in separate editions for adults and children.
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Rachel Cusk is a Canadian-born novelist and writer who lives and works in the United Kingdom.
The Lucky Ones is a 2003 collection of short stories written by British author Rachel Cusk. The book consists of five stories mainly concerned with the subject of family relationships, about five different people who are loosely connected to each other.
Shena Mackay FRSL, is a Scottish novelist born in Edinburgh. She was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1996 for The Orchard on Fire. Also long listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2003 for Heligoland.
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John Campbell is a British political writer and biographer. He was educated at Charterhouse and the University of Edinburgh from where he gained a Ph.D. in politics in 1975
Caroline Mary Moorehead is a human rights journalist and biographer.
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"The Adventure of Silver Blaze", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 in the cycle collected as The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. Doyle ranked "Silver Blaze" 13th in a list of his 19 favourite Sherlock Holmes stories.
The Guardian Children's Fiction Prize or Guardian Award is a literary award that annually recognises one fiction book written for children or young adults and published in the United Kingdom. It is conferred upon the author of the book by The Guardian newspaper, which established it in 1965 and inaugurated it in 1967. It is a lifetime award in that previous winners are not eligible. At least since 2000 the prize is £1,500.
The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the will of Miles Franklin (1879–1954), who is best known for writing the Australian classic My Brilliant Career (1901). She bequeathed her estate to fund this award. As of 2016, the award is valued A$60,000.
Stephen Keith Kloves is an American screenwriter, film director and producer. He wrote and directed the 1989 film The Fabulous Baker Boys and is mainly known for his adaptations of novels, especially for all but one of the Harry Potter films and for Wonder Boys.
Agent Z And The Penguin From Mars is a 1996 Children's BBC sitcom, based on the book of the same name by Mark Haddon.
The Costa Book of the Year shortlist was announced on 10 January 2007 and the final results at a ceremony held on 7 February 2007.
Luke Antony Newman Treadaway is a British actor and singer. He has won an Olivier Award for Best Leading Actor for his performance as Christopher in the National Theatre's production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time in 2013. He has also been nominated for an Evening Standard Theatre Award.
Coming Down the Mountain is a 2007 British television film which was shown on BBC One, written by Mark Haddon and directed by Julie Anne Robinson. The television film was based on a radio play also written by Haddon.
The Booktrust Teenage Prize was an annual award given to young adult literature published in the UK. The prize was administered by Book Trust, an independent charity which promotes books and reading. The Booktrust Teenage Prize was last awarded in 2010 and is no longer running.
The National Book Awards Children's Book of the Year Award is a British literary award, given annually to works of children's literature as part of the Galaxy National Book Awards. It was established in 1996, replacing the British Illustrated Children's Book of the Year and British Children's Author of the Year categories.
The Indies Choice Book Award is an American literary award that was inaugurated at BookExpo America 2000. The American Booksellers Association (ABA) rededicated the award in recognition of a new era in bookselling, as well as the important role the Book Sense Picks List has played for independent booksellers in discovering and spreading the word about books of quality to all stores, and readers, nationwide. Throughout the year, Book Sense independent booksellers from across the country nominate for inclusion in the monthly Book Sense Picks the books that they most enjoyed hand-selling to their customers. The books on each list represent a combined national and local staff pick selection of booksellers' favorites from more than 1,200 independent bookstores with Book Sense.
David Fickling Books Ltd (DFB) became an independent publishing house in July 2013 following 12 years with Scholastic and then Random House. They have published several prize-winning and bestselling books including Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne, Bing Bunny by Ted Dewan, Pants by Nick Sharratt and Giles Andreae, Before I Die by Jenny Downham, Trash by Andy Mulligan and A Boy and a Bear in a Boat by Dave Shelton.
Paul Ritter is an English stage and screen actor. He is most famous for his roles in films including Quantum of Solace, Son of Rambow, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, and The Eagle, as well as television programmes including Vera, Friday Night Dinner, The Hollow Crown and as Peredur in The Last Kingdom.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress is a 2006 novel by Irish journalist and author Paul Howard, and the fifth in the Ross O'Carroll-Kelly series.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is a play by Simon Stephens based on the novel of the same name by Mark Haddon. During its premiere run, the play tied the record for winning the most Olivier Awards (seven), including Best New Play at the 2013 ceremony.
The shortlist was announced on 26 November 2013. The category winners were announced 6 January 2014. The Book of the Year was announced 28 January 2014.
Alexander Ian Sharp is an English/American actor best known for originating the role of Christopher Boone in the Broadway Production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.