Galaxy Book of the Year Awards 2010 Announced

London, Wednesday 10th November—The winners of the Galaxy National Book Awards 2010, a celebration of the best of British publishing, were tonight revealed at a star-studded awards ceremony at London's prestigious BBC Studios.

Literary veterans Terry Pratchett and Martin Amis took home awards for Outstanding Achievement, in recognition of their unrivalled contribution to the publishing industry.

"I'm delighted," said Martin Amis. "And I take this is as a boost for the so called comic novel. I say so called, because in fact nearly all novels are comic novels."

Terry Pratchett said:

"I'm amazed, you find something that you like doing and do well and keep on doing it and suddenly they give you an award, when all I was really doing was having a lot of fun."

Stephen Fry beat off big competition in the hotly contested Biography category, claiming victory over rival authors who included Tony Blair (booed by one member of the audience) and Lord Alan Sugar. Fry's autobiography The Fry Chronicles was named Tesco Biography of the Year on an evening which saw ten awards presented.

The gala ceremony, recorded at the BBC Television Centre and presented by comedian David Baddiel, has shifted an enhanced focus onto UK writers in a theatre-style venue.

This year there was no separate Crime and Thriller Award, Peter James (Dead Like You) and Lee Child (Worth Dying For) were nominees for Sainsbury’s Popular Fiction Book of the Year. Which was won David Nichols for One Day (Hodder & Stoughton). Roger Jon Ellory also attended and was excited (even though this picture doesn't suggest it!) about his new book SAINTS OF NEW YORK.

The public are now invited to vote online for the Galaxy Book of the Year, the nominees of which comprise winners of all eight categories. Votes can be registered at http://www.galaxynationalbookawards.com/ and the final result will be announced on 13th December.

The Galaxy National Book Awards 2010 and the Booked series are Cactus TV productions (Executive Produced by Amanda Ross) for More4.

For full details of the shortlist please see below:
TESCO BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR
The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry (Penguin Group)
TESCO FOOD & DRINK BOOK OF THE YEAR
Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi (Random House)
NATIONAL BOOK TOKENS NEW WRITER OF THE YEAR
The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal (Random House)
MORE4 NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
The Making Of Modern Britain by Andrew Marr (Pan Macmillan)
SAINSBURY'S POPULAR FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR
One Day by David Nicholls (Hodder & Stoughton)
WATERSTONE'S UK AUTHOR OF THE YEAR
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Harper Collins)
GALAXY INTERNATIONAL AUTHOR OF THE YEAR
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (Harper Collins)
WH SMITH CHILDREN'S BOOK OF THE YEAR
Zog by Julia Donaldson & Axel Scheffler (Scholastic)
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Terry Pratchett
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Martin Amis