We are delighted to announce that Benjamin Wood has won the 2025 Nero Prize for Fiction with his novel SEASCRAPER (Viking, 2025).

SEASCRAPER tells the story of Thomas, who lives with his mother in Longferry as a shanker before a visitor turns up. The judges described the book as an "utterly immersive read, steeped in atmosphere, that explores what constitutes a well-lived life".

The awards celebrate exceptional writing from authors based in the UK and Ireland. Each winner has received £5,000 and is now in the running for the Nero Gold Prize, Book of the Year 2025. The overall prize of £30,000 will be selected by a final judging panel comprising author Nick Hornby, BBC correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti and screenwriter Daisy Goodwin. The winner will be announced at a ceremony hosted by Sarah Montague on 4th March.

"The Nero Book Awards have gone from strength to strength in the past two years and our winners for 2025 are of incredible quality," said Gerry Ford, founder and group CEO of Caffè Nero. "The judges had a difficult job deciding on the best in each category, with so many fantastic books published this year. Their selection epitomises what we look for with the Nero Book Awards – outstanding writing, incredible storytelling and the books you most want to press into the hands of others."

Previous winners of the Nero Gold Prize have included THE BEE STING by Paul Murray (Hamish Hamilton), which was the winner of the 2023 Fiction award, and MAURICE AND MARALYN by Sophie Elmhirst (Vintage), winner of the Non-Fiction category in 2024.