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The British Book Awards, or Nibbies, has revealed the regional shortlists for the 2019 Independent Bookshop of the Year, sponsored by Gardners Books.
Forty-eight bookshops from nine regions are competing to win in their local area, before vying for the overall prize. The final award will be given out at the British Book Awards ceremony, run by The Bookseller, in Grosvenor House, London on 13th May.
The Independent Bookshop of the Year Award welcomes a host of first time shortlistees this year, including Huntingdon’s Niche Comics & Bookshop, Shropshire’s Burway Books, Fort William's The Highland Bookshop and, from London, Burley Fisher Books and Phlox Books.
A landmark six stores have the chance for consecutive regional wins: Norwich’s The Book Hive, Ireland’s Woodbine Books, Stockton-on-Tees’ Drake - The Bookshop, Scotland’s The Edinburgh Bookshop, Colchester’s Red Lion Books and Nottingham’s Five Leaves Bookshop, last year’s overall Independent Bookshop of the Year.
Tom Tivnan, award judge and The Bookseller’s managing editor, said: “There have been welcome statistics recently about the indie bookselling sector’s incredible revival and the sheer strength and depth of this year’s submissions certainly reflects that. Indie bookshops in the UK and Ireland are responding smartly to the changing marketplace, are passionate about bringing books to more readers and are lynchpins of local communities.”
Last month, the Booksellers Association (BA) reported a second year of growth in its independent bookshop membership, with 15 new shops joining the trade body in 2018. BA president Nic Bottomley described the rise as “even more robust than I thought”.
The judging panel will choose one winner per region, to be revealed in March. The overall winner will receive a cheque for £5,000 from wholesalers Gardners Books at the 13th May ceremony.
The full shortlists are:
Ireland
• The Maynooth Bookshop
• Woodbine Books
• The Blessington Bookstore
• Charlie Byrne’s Bookshop
Scotland
• The Highland Bookshop
• The Edinburgh Bookshop
• Lighthouse Bookshop
• Golden Hare Books
• Far From The Madding Crowd
• The Bookmark
Wales
• Chepstow Books & Gifts
• Bookish
• Cover To Cover
• Griffin Books
Midlands
• Five Leaves Bookshop
• Burway Books
• Button & Bear Children’s Bookshop
East
• Walkers Books
• Rogan’s Books
• The Book Hive
• Niche Comics & Bookshop
• Woodbridge Emporium
• Harris & Harris Books
South West
• Falmouth Bookseller
• Hunting Raven Books
• St Ives Bookseller
• Gullivers Bookshop
• Crediton Community Bookshop
• Edge of the World Bookshop
South East
• Coles Books
• Sevenoaks Bookshop
• Mostly Books
• October Books
• Red Lion Books
• The Wallingford Bookshop
North
• Linghams
• Forum Books
• White Rose BookCafe
• The Little Ripon Bookshop
• Drake - The Bookshop
• The Book Corner Halifax
London
• Gay’s the Word
• Ink@84 Books
• Phlox Books
• Moon Lane Books
• Burley Fisher Books
• The Kew Bookshop
• Newham Bookshop