Virginia Roberts Giuffre and Sarah Wynn Williams win the British Book Award for Freedom to Publish

The award was presented posthumously to Giuffre for her memoir, Nobody’s Girl, and to Wynn-Williams for Careless People, her unflinching exposé of Meta, with Sarah Wynn Williams receiving a standing ovation for her moving tribute to Roberts Giuffre.

Hosted at Grosvenor House in London and presented by Pan author and broadcaster Steph McGovern, The British Book Awards celebrate authors, publishers and industry professionals across the UK book trade.

‘The truth, once a book unleashes it into the world, has a way of outlasting everything that tried to stop it. It makes the world a little less safe for the predatory and powerful, and a little more possible for the rest of us.’

— Sarah Wynn Williams, Author of Careless People and winner of the British Book Award for Freedom to Publish

On 12th March 2025, Meta secured an emergency arbitration ruling in the US to stop Wynn-Williams from promoting or further distributing copies of her memoir, Careless People. Since publication, she has been unable to speak about her book or her experiences of working at Facebook. The arbitration proceedings in California by Meta against Wynn-Williams continue. 

Sarah Wynn-Williams paid tribute to Nobody’s Girl, unable to speak about her own book: ‘Virginia Giuffre and Amy Wallace did not write Nobody’s Girl so that we would mourn her. They wrote it so we would read it. So that things would change. This memoir does what the greatest acts of witness do. They do not close a story, they open it outward - into all of the other stories that were never told, all the voices that were silenced before they found a page. This is what one book can do - when it is written honestly enough, when it is published bravely enough, and read by enough people willing to be changed by it. And the truth, once a book unleashes it into the world, has a way of outlasting everything that tried to stop it. It makes the world a little less safe for the predatory and powerful, and a little more possible for the rest of us.‘

Mike Harpley, Non-Fiction Publisher at Pan said: ‘Sarah Wynn-Williams has shown astonishing courage in writing Careless People. She is now facing a considerable personal, legal and financial toll for bringing to light issues of crucial public interest, both here in the UK and internationally. It is a breathtaking irony that while her book helped spark a global reckoning for social media, she is unable to take part in the conversation, silenced by a company that claims to champion free speech.‘ 

Joanna Prior reaffirmed Pan Macmillan’s support: ‘Sarah Wynn William’s courage is extraordinary and Pan Macmillan is proud to stand with her and ensure her voice is heard. We believe the book remains the ultimate authenticated record - a vital weapon against those who use power and money to silence inconvenient stories. Careless People speaks for everyone who cares about the safety of our children and the transparency of the global platforms that shape our lives. No individual should be silenced by corporate tactics, especially when the public interest is this high.‘ 

‘It is a breathtaking irony that while her book helped spark a global reckoning for social media, she is unable to take part in the conversation, silenced by a company that claims to champion free speech.’

— Mike Harpley, Non-Fiction Publisher - Pan

Jemimah Steinfeld, chief executive of Index on Censorship, said the two books demonstrated how ‘the rich and powerful use legal pressure to try to silence those with less capital‘. ‘The circumstances are very different and the stories are not morally comparable,‘ Steinfeld said, ‘but they share similarities.‘

Philip Jones, chair of The British Book Awards and editor of The Bookseller, said: ‘These stories, told by silenced voices, represent the best of the book trade. The Freedom to Publish Award acts as our response to those who would silence the truth and this year recognizes the bravest of people, Virginia Roberts Giuffre and Sarah Wynn-Williams.‘ 

Careless People was also the winner of this year’s Audiobook Non-Fiction Prize, after being awarded the “Speakie” last year for Non-Fiction Memoir. The judges described the book as an ‘astonishing‘, ‘important‘ and ‘terrific‘ memoir, who called the audio edition ‘supremely entertaining‘. 

‘Careless People speaks for everyone who cares about the safety of our children and the transparency of the global platforms that shape our lives.’

— Joanna Prior, CEO - Pan Macmillan

Mike Harpley said: ‘Despite the CEO who publicly champions free speech, the company has sought to prevent her from promoting her vitally important book. She is prevented from saying anything critical of Meta, in public, or even in private to her family. These restrictions mean she must constantly police her own life, facing life-changing fines for any breach. In a new development, the company now argues she can’t even be in the vicinity of Careless People or its depiction, meaning her book’s cover cannot be displayed here tonight.‘

He added: ‘While we cannot hear from her now, Sarah’s voice has reached the world through this audiobook.‘

---

Pan Macmillan’s Head of Rights Anna Shora was named Rights Professional of the Year. Anna was at the heart of Pan Mac’s biggest achievements in 2025, leading her team of four to growth of a third in translation sales. Her numbers and testimonials impressed the judges, who commented: ‘Anna’s at the top of her game and has posted some remarkable results. There’s innovation and great selling, and she’s a vital strategic partner to editors.‘ Accepting her trophy, Anna thanked the Pan Mac rights and editorial teams, alongside the authors and agents she represents around the world: ‘This is entirely a collective achievement. Everything we do is a team effort, and I’m so proud to be part of such a brilliant and collaborative group,‘ she said. 

‘This is entirely a collective achievement. Everything we do is a team effort, and I’m so proud to be part of such a brilliant and collaborative group.’

— Anna Shora, Head of Rights - Pan Macmillan, and winner of Rights Professional of the Year at the Nibbies

This year, a special award was given posthumously to three trailblazers of romantic fiction, who sadly died last year - Sophie Kinsella, Dame Jilly Cooper, and Joanna Trollope (published by Mantle). The award recognized the impact the three authors had on the genre, the industry and their lasting legacy.

The award was introduced by author of Welcome to Rosie Hopkins’ Sweetshop of Dreams Jenny Colgan, who mourned the loss of ‘funny, glorious, raunchy Cooper‘,‘ wonderful, delicate gimlet eye and elegant‘ Trollope, and ‘great writer and great individual‘ Madeleine Wickham, aka Sophie Kinsella. The families of Cooper, Kinsella and Trollope took to the stage to accept the awards.