Isle of Wight Book Awards celebrate literary talent at annual prize-giving lunch

It's a week of award-giving on the Isle of Wight!

On Tuesday, the annual Isle of Wight Book Awards opened the Island’s Literary Festival this week with a prize-giving lunch at the Island Sailing Club in Cowes.

The 2025 Awards welcomed any book published in 2024 that was either set on or about the Isle of Wight. Authors could live anywhere in the world, as long as their work featured some Isle of Wight content.

Eligibility and format
Both professionally published and self-published books were entered, with previous winners spread fairly equally across both. Only printed books were accepted, as e-books were not eligible.

Guests enjoyed a three-course meal before the announcement of this year’s winners. The event began with an opening speech from Awards founder, Hunter Davies.

Judging panel
There were three categories: Children’s, Fiction and Non-Fiction. Each had its own judge.

• Nicholas Allen, bestselling children’s author and illustrator, judged the Children’s entries.
• Mark Eccleston, former BBC journalist and winner of the first Isle of Wight Book Award, judged Fiction.
• Lucinda Hawksley, award-winning author, art historian and broadcaster, judged Non-Fiction.

Children’s winners

1. There Will Be Blue Skies by Jo Cooper
2. The Search for Donkey Paradise by David Goodday
3. Chuffle by Tracy Mikich

Fiction winners

1. The Devil to Pay by Katie Daysh – also the overall Book of the Year winner
2. A Drowning Tide by Sarah Lawton
3. The Laughing Robot by Julia Ross

Non-Fiction winners

1. There Is No Second by Magnus Wheatley
2. The Isle of Wight: Women, History, Books and Places by Susanna Hoe
3. Upgrading the Isle of Wight's Railway by Richard C. Long

Charity support
As with previous years, the event supported a chosen charity, whose representative gave a short presentation and received all funds raised from a stall selling the judges’ copies of the entrants’ books, as well as a raffle.

This year’s selected recipient was Sporting Opportunities IW, an independent sports charity offering training and competition opportunities to athletes with learning disabilities on the Island. Now officially accredited with Special Olympics Great Britain, the charity has access to local, regional and national competitions across the country.

Prizes and sponsors
Each category winner received £200, with an additional £500 awarded to the overall winner.

Sponsors of the event included David and Patsy Franks, Isle of Wight Festival, Creative Island, Medina Publishing and Monkton Arts.