Audiobook awards

January — Odyssey Award, Voice Arts Awards · February — the Grammy · Late winter — Audie finalists · March — Audie winners, London Book Fair excellence awards · May — British Book Awards · November — Grammy nominations, the Speakies (British Audio Awards) · December — year-end best-of lists · Each month — AudioFile Earphones picks, announced at the month's start.

Britain's dedicated audiobook awards, run by The Bookseller and The Stage — only in their second year, and already up to 423 entries. The shortlists are out; the winners are named at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank, on November 23, hosted by Sally Phillips. The category everyone watches is Narrator:

Shortlists via Voice Over Herald, from The Bookseller's published lists. This section gets the winners on November 23.

AudioFile Magazine's Earphones Awards mark exceptional narration — the steadiest flow of new honourees in listening, announced as a fresh round at the start of every month. November's round is the current one; this section refreshes as each new round lands, and AudioFile's Best of the Year list follows in December.

The UK book trade's big night, at Grosvenor House — with audiobooks honoured in fiction and nonfiction:

Full winners list at Listening Books.

The London Book Fair's International Excellence Awards name an Audiobook Publisher of the Year — Penguin Random House Audio took it this year, a useful signal for where the production money is going.

The Audio Publishers Association's awards — the industry's Oscars, with 25+ categories across fiction, nonfiction, narration and audio drama, plus the big one:

Full category list at audiopub.org. Winners with a price-check on this site link straight to it; the rest join the checking queue.

One category — Best Audio Book, Narration & Storytelling Recording — but the one that makes the general news, especially when a famous voice wins.

Recent winners run from Viola Davis (2023 — the win that completed her EGOT) to Michelle Obama (2024). The 2027 nominees are announced November 16, 2026 — this section updates then.

The American Library Association's award for the best audiobook production for children and young adults, announced with the Newbery and Caldecott. The award goes to the producer — it's a production honour, which is why Odyssey winners so often sound extraordinary.

Announced January 26, 2026, at the ALA Youth Media Awards in Chicago. Honor titles included Jason Reynolds' Soundtrack and Whale Eyes.

Run by the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences, with audiobook narration categories — the narrators' own awards, and the best window into which voices the industry itself rates. The 12th annual gala was held January 18, 2026, at the Beverly Hilton.

The ALA's Listen List picks the year's outstanding adult audiobooks, and Amazing Audiobooks for Young Adults does the same for younger listeners. Each December, the year-end best-of lists land — Audible, Libro.fm, Library Journal and Booklist — and this page gathers them in one place, with a price-check or free route for every title we can verify.