The Isle of Wight Book Awards return to the Island Sailing Club in Cowes on Tuesday 6th October, and this year’s awards lunch is open to everyone.
Whether you’re an author, a keen reader, involved in the Island’s creative community, or simply enjoy a good lunch and a celebration, you’re very welcome to join us.
The afternoon begins at 12 noon with a glass of fizz, followed by a delicious three-course lunch and the awards ceremony, with proceedings expected to finish between 3.30pm and 4pm.
Tickets are £37.50 and include the fizz and three-course lunch. The menu and tickets are available from the Island Sailing Club website.
A new prize in Marion Carmichael’s memory
This year’s awards recognise books across Children’s, Fiction, Non-Fiction and, for the first time, Poetry. The new Poetry Prize celebrates the memory of Marion Carmichael, a hugely talented Island poet who won the very first Book Award with her collection of poems, entered at the time in the Fiction category.
A tireless supporter of writers and artists on the Island, Marion was a true force of nature, and the new prize is a fitting tribute to her. It is sponsored by Island Storytellers.
Judges and prize money
The judging panel brings together an impressive group of writers: children’s author Kieran Larwood, Sunday Times bestselling novelist Heidi Perks, crime historian and author Angela Buckley, and poet Lily Blacksell, who grew up partly on the Island.
There is also some serious prize money at stake. Each of the four category winners will receive £200, with the overall Isle of Wight Book of the Year receiving an additional £500.
The awards are generously supported by The Isle of Wight Festival, David and Patsy Franks, Creative Island and Island Storytellers, whose sponsorship helps make the awards possible and enables the Island’s writers to receive the recognition they deserve.
Supporting the Isle of Wight Youth Trust
As well as celebrating the winning books, the afternoon is an opportunity to raise money for this year’s chosen charity, the Isle of Wight Youth Trust, which provides free, confidential mental-health and wellbeing support for Island children and young people.
There will be a short presentation from the Trust, a raffle and the opportunity to buy the judges’ copies of the submitted books, with proceeds going to the charity.
Raffle prizes are very gratefully received.
Most importantly, the Book Awards are a celebration of the extraordinary amount of writing and publishing that happens on the Isle of Wight. They provide a chance to bring the Island’s literary community together, raise a flag for our sometimes isolated corner of the creative world, and show locals and visitors alike just how much talent there is here.
And you don’t have to be nominated for an award to come along. The lunch is open to the public, so come and celebrate Island books with us.
Where and when
The Isle of Wight Book Awards 2026 takes place on Tuesday 6th October from 12 noon at Island Sailing Club, Cowes
Tickets are priced at £37.50 which includes a glass of fizz and three-course lunch.
Book tickets and view the menu
News shared by Paul on behalf of the Isle of Wight Book Awards. Ed
