Author-illustrator Alice Oseman has been given a YA Book Prize Special Achievement Award in recognition of their bestselling graphic novel series, Heartstopper. Oseman was presented with the award today at London Book Fair, where they are appearing as Creative of the Fair, by Caroline Carpenter, Chair of the YA Book Prize.

Heartstopper is a coming-of-age story following two teenage boys as they fall in love, as well as exploring the lives of their friends. Originally shared by Oseman as a free webcomic, the author-illustrator turned to crowdfunding to produce a physical version in 2018, reaching their target within two hours. Later that year, Hachette Children’s Group signed it, at which point it had more than 60,000 subscribers. Five graphic novels in the series have been published so far, alongside an official colouring book and a yearbook, with the sixth and final volumebeing released on 2nd July 2026. The Heartstopper books have sold nearly 1.5 million units in the UK through NielsenIQ BookScan’s Total Consumer Market, with 1.3 million of those sales attributed to the graphic novels alone.

The YA Book Prize is run by The Bookseller Magazine in partnership with Edinburgh International Book Festival. It celebrates 10 shortlisted books written by authors in the UK and Ireland annually, with one scooping the overall award. Oseman took home the prize in 2021 for their novel Loveless which LoveReading4Kids called a "trailblazing coming-out, coming-of-age treasure with universal messages about self-love, friendship and finding your way."

This is the fourth Special Achievement Award the prize has bestowed in addition to the main trophy, with previous recipients Melvin Burgess, Malorie Blackman and the authors and publishers of 2017 YA anthology A Change Is Gonna Come.

Oseman said of the award: “This is such an incredible honour. To stand alongside UK YA giants and changemakers like Malorie Blackman, Melvin Burgess and the writers behind A Change Is Gonna Come anthology is such a privilege. Thank you to the team at The Bookseller and the YA Book Prize for recognising Heartstopper in this way and for continually championing my work.”

They added: “The YA Book Prize is one really close to my heart. I was honoured to be a recipient of the prize back in 2021, and was invited to join the judging panel in 2025, so this acknowledgement today feels extra special. The YA Book Prize does such a fantastic and vital job of spotlighting both established and emerging writing talent in the UK and Ireland and I can’t wait to see what the 2026 shortlist has in store!”

Carpenter, The Bookseller’s Children’s Editor and Deputy Features Editor, stated: “It feels incredibly fitting that Alice Oseman is the YA Book Prize’s first ‘double winner’. The prize launched in 2014 to celebrate fantastic homegrown fiction for teenagers. That same year, Alice’s first YA novel, Solitaire, was published, showcasing the uniquely relatable voice that has made their work so widely loved by young people worldwide. It also introduced the world to the characters of Charlie Spring and Nick Nelson, who soon got their own story.

“It’s no exaggeration to say that Heartstopper is a phenomenon. Whether it is reaching its audience as a webcomic, a graphic novel or a TV show, it has become so important to so many people. Though graphic novels are not eligible for the main YA Book Prize, we simply had to acknowledge Alice and Heartstopper’s sensational success with a Special Achievement Award this year.”  

In addition to their books, Oseman is the creator, writer and executive producer of Netflix’s Heartstopper adaptation. For this work, they have received BAFTA nominations and Emmy wins, including scooping the Outstanding Writing for a Young Teen Program category at the Children’s & Family Emmy Awards earlier this month. In 2024, they were named as Attitude Person of the Year as well as The British Book Awards’ Illustrator of the Year. Netflix’s Heartstopper series finale will hit screens later this year as a feature-length film.

This year’s YA Book Prize shortlist will be revealed on 18th June. The shortlisted authors will be invited to talk at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, where the winner will be announced in a live ceremony on 27th August. 

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