Ruth Jones, the Welsh actress and co-creator of Gavin and Stacey, has been shortlisted for Author of the Year at the 2026 British Book Awards, recognizing her contributions to UK readership during the National Year of Reading. The 59-year-old also earned a nomination in audiobook non-fiction for her memoir co-authored with James Corden. She faces competition from Freida McFadden, Elif Shafak, Richard Osman, Mick Herron, AF Steadman, and Charlie Mackesy.
The British Book Awards have announced their shortlists, highlighting top books published in 2025 across new categories including romantic fiction, graphic novels, science fiction and fantasy, and the first BBC Radio 2 Book Club Award.
Ruth Jones, best known for co-writing and starring in the BBC sitcom Gavin and Stacey, is in contention for Author of the Year. Her literary career launched with the 2018 debut Never Greener, a number one Sunday Times bestseller and Zoe Ball TV Book Club pick. The second-chance romance follows actress Kate reconnecting with past lover Callum after 17 years, praised as "heart-rending, provocative and astutely written" by Cathy Bramley and gripping by Jane Fallon.
Us Three (2020), another Sunday Times bestseller, explores lifelong female friendship among Lana, Judith, and Catrin, hailed by Dawn French as "a touching celebration of the beauty and endurance of female friendship."
Love Untold (2022) was an instant bestseller, Richard and Judy Book Club pick, and Waterstones Paperback of the Year, centering on 90-year-old Grace mending a family rift while confronting themes of maternal love and self-truth.
Her latest novel, By Your Side (2025), topped the UK Independent Bookshop chart and will release in paperback this May. It follows retirement-bound investigator Linda uncovering personal secrets while probing a deceased Welshman's life on a remote Scottish island.
Jones also co-authored the memoir When Gavin Met Stacey And Everything In Between: A Story Of Love And Friendship with James Corden, published in October 2025 and co-narrated for its shortlisted audiobook non-fiction entry. Corden praised her warmth, while JoJo Moyes noted her insight into human nature.
In Author of the Year, she competes against thriller writer Freida McFadden (The Housemaid, adapting to film with Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney), Richard Osman (The Impossible Fortune in his Thursday Murder Club series), Mick Herron (Slough House, basis for Apple TV's Slow Horses), illustrator Charlie Mackesy, fantasy author AF Steadman, and Elif Shafak (The Forty Rules of Love).
Other highlights include non-fiction like Ozzy Osbourne's Last Rites and Virginia Giuffre's Nobody’s Girl; children's fiction with Suzanne Collins' Sunrise on the Reaping (Hunger Games prequel); and cookbooks from Jamie Oliver and Joe Wicks. Bob Mortimer's The Long Shoe and Michael Rosen's Oh Dear, Look What I Got! also feature.
Alice O’Keeffe, Books of the Year chairwoman, said: “From fresh new voices to big brand authors, this year’s shortlists celebrate the best books published in 2025.” Winners will be revealed on May 11 at London's Grosvenor House.
