- Ghana Library Authority (Ghana) awarded Library of the Year
- Cărturești (Romania) is Bookstore of the Year
- Findaway Voices (USA) wins Audiobook Publisher of the Year award
- Literary Translation Initiative Award goes to Editora Trinta Zero Nove (Mozambique)
LONDON, 1st June 2021. The winners of The London Book Fair (LBF) International Excellence Awards have been announced today, with seven recipients named from across four continents.
The Ghana Library Authority took home The Library of the Year Award, with judges saying it “really struck us as an amazing story of transformation and an example of how library services can tackle some of the most pressing social issues confronting their users. From using technology to support remote learning to promoting information skills, literacy and reading, this is a great example of the difference a quality library can make.”
Romania’s Cărturești won The Bookstore of the Year Award, being praised by judges for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic. They said Cărturești’s “online offering and activities, and the grant programme subsidised from their sales to support local writers, demonstrated their sense of responsibility for the community. All of this in a stunning building imaginatively converted into a bookshop that we all wanted to visit as soon as we can.”
Now in its third year, Audiobook Publisher of the Year was awarded to Findaway Voices (USA). The judges said the organisation “demonstrated such strong commitment to developing a wider and more open audiobook world, for authors, publishers and listeners alike. We felt that Findaway Voices offers fresh opportunities for authors and narrators to create wonderful, high-quality recordings that reach existing audiobook fans – and create new ones – across the globe.”
The Literary Translation Initiative Award went to Mozambique’s Editora Trinta Zero Nove. Judges commented on the high standard of both the winner and the shortlisted organisations, saying “all of the initiatives on this year’s shortlist are exceptional, and might serve as valuable models of how translators and translation should be supported and promoted – they are all, each in their own way, great examples to be followed. Of these, we found the ground-breaking Editora Trinta Zero Nove (which made last year’s shortlist) especially inspiring – it’s an imaginative, dynamic and visionary programme of activity. We couldn’t be more excited to have it as our 2021 winner.”
Nora Mercurio from Suhrkamp Verlag (Germany) was named winner of the Rights Professional Award, while Karadi Path Education Company won the Educational Learning Resources Award, having been shortlisted for the category in 2020.
This year’s Inclusivity in Publishing Award, supported by the Publishers Association, was awarded to Hachette UK. The judges noted the incredible work being done by the wider shortlist, saying that they “were particularly impressed this year by the number of smaller independent presses doing fantastic work across inclusivity in publishing, and Lantana Publishing being in the shortlist is fully representative of this.” They added that “the judging panel awarded Hachette UK with the Inclusivity in Publishing Award given their clear commitment to embed their D&I strategy across all levels and functions of the business, whilst also being fully transparent during this process. We felt this holistic and open approach was in many ways setting the standard for the UK publishing industry.”
Andy Ventris, Director of The London Book Fair, said: “After a year which has impacted every corner of the book world, it is more important than ever that we celebrate the innovation and creativity being shown by the global publishing community in the face of unprecedented challenges. All of the winners of this year’s International Excellence Awards demonstrate the ingenuity and talent to be found in the industry today, and we are delighted to recognise their work bringing books and learning to readers around the globe.”
Stephen Lotinga, Chief Executive, The UK Publishers Association, said: “Congratulations to the hugely deserving winners of this year’s International Excellence Awards. It’s inspiring to see the great work happening in the books industry around the world – especially in such challenging circumstances.”
The winners of the International Excellence Awards will be celebrated at The Online Book Fair in a series of ‘In Conversation With…’ events on Tuesday 29th June. The winners will be speaking about their prize-winning work and the pressing issues within their area of publishing. These sessions will appear alongside author talks, publishing panels, seminars and more at The Online Book Fair.
The full list of this year’s International Excellence winners is below:
The Audiobook Publisher of the Year
- Findaway Voices (USA)
The Bookstore of the Year Award
- Cărturești (Romania)
The Educational Learning Resources Award
- Karadi Path Education Company (India)
The Library of the Year Award
- Ghana Library Authority (Ghana)
The Literary Translation Initiative Award
- Editora Trinta Zero Nove (Mozambique)
The Rights Professional Award
- Nora Mercurio, Suhrkamp Verlag (Germany)
Eligible for entries from the UK only:
Inclusivity in Publishing Award, supported by the Publishers Association
- Hachette UK