Dame Jenni said the prize had been "very difficult" to judge because the shortlisted books spanned five very different categories - poetry, children's, biography, first novel and novel.

BBC: Hilary Mantel wins Costa Book Award

The Whitbread Book of the Year award was established in 1985 and has been won seven times by a novel, three times by a first novel, four times by a biography, five times by a collection of poetry and once by a children's book.

BBC: NEWS | Entertainment | Hornby on track for novel prize

It was the only instrument and the only poetry that described the way I felt when I was five and when I was six and when my Dad told me about growing up in New Jersey and what it was like to see Bruce on the boardwalk and make out with girls on the beach.

FORBES: Lady Gaga's $13,000 Dinner

Five hundred copies of the hardcover were printed, the same as the poetry that the publisher specializes in.

FORBES: A Truly Rare Book