The London Book Fair (LBF) has today revealed the shortlist for the Trailblazers Awards 2026, celebrating industry professionals in their first ten years of their career in the industry, who are demonstrating creativity, dedication and innovation in their roles.

Now in their eleventh year, the awards are run by The London Book Fair, in partnership with the Publishers Association (PA), the Society of Young Publishers (SYP) and BookBrunch.

The Trailblazer Awards 2026 Shortlist:

1. Andy Stewart, Head of Programming, Emirates Literature Foundation & Emirates Airline Festival of Literature
2. Arabella Watkiss, Senior Press Officer, Bonnier Books UK
3. Caitlin Curry, Founder, London Girls Book Club (ran through Empowered Consultancy LTD)
4. Charlene Hughes, Business Owner, The Bookery
5. Daniel Li, Marketing Manager, Sinoist Books
6. Fatimah Abbas, International Publishing Consultant & AI Strategist, FALA
7. Gareth James, Chief Reader, Margin to Margin Books
8. Harley Lambrianou, Audio Director, Jade Monkey Audio
9. Kathryn Tann, Co-Founder and Editor, Folding Rock
10. Madeline Adeane, Senior Publicity Manager, Farshore (HarperCollins Publishers)
11. Rebecca Gediking, Head of GLL Libraries and GLL Literary Foundation, GLL
12. Ruby Fatimilehin, Assistant Editor, Hamish Hamilton (Penguin Random House UK)

Emma Lowe, Director of The London Book Fair, said: “The standard of entries was incredibly high this years – so we simply had to shortlist more people, bringing the total shortlistees up to twelve from our usual ten! We are delighted to shine a light on these brilliant individuals, from PRs to library specialists, editors to booksellers and beyond. We’re especially proud of having had lots of international submissions this year, which is reflected on the shortlist. We can’t wait to reveal the winners the day before the Fair, and celebrate our wonderful shortlistees in a dedicated panel event at LBF.”

This year’s Trailblazers will be promoted across The London Book Fair’s social media channels and website, as well as in BookBrunch. Each winner will receive a coveted Trailblazer trophy along with a complimentary ticket to this year’s and next year’s fair, membership to the Society of Young Publishers, and a free subscription to BookBrunch.

The overall winners will be selected by a judging panel and announced ahead of The London Book Fair. More information available here.

The London Book Fair (LBF) is the world’s largest spring book trade and publishing event and will return to Olympia London from 10 – 12 March 2026.