A HAWORTH bookshop is celebrating success in a coveted awards scheme.

Wave of Nostalgia has been named north of England Independent Bookshop of the Year.

More than 70 finalists were vying for regional and country accolades in the awards scheme, organised by The Bookseller.

Now, the nine winners – including Wave of Nostalgia – are in contention for the overall Independent Bookshop of the Year honour, to be announced at the British Book Awards ceremony at Grosvenor House, London, in May.

Tom Tivnan, of The Bookseller, says: "This has been amongst the most competitive Independent Bookshop of the Year judging processes since the award was conceived – not just in the record number of overall submissions, but in the sheer unbelievable quality of literally every shop that entered. Getting down to nine regional and country winners was a very difficult process.

"Indie bookshops across the UK and Ireland are thriving and have met the very difficult recent trading conditions with creativity and cutting-edge innovation. What is truly cheering is that we see this in new shops that have popped up since the pandemic and venerable stores which have been trading for decades."

Diane Park, owner of Wave of Nostalgia, describes the award as "a huge accolade".

She says: "It’s been the best-ever year for Wave of Nostalgia, one in which we have met many fantastic customers new and old, introduced brilliant authors to our community and received tremendous feedback.

"To cap it all, we were amazed and excited to find out we're the north of England winner in the Independent Bookshop of the Year awards. It's a huge accolade, particularly as there are so many fantastic bookshops in our region. We’d like to thank everyone who has helped us achieve this, in only our third year as booksellers."

On Wednesday, March 27, award-winning bestselling author Anna Mazzola is visiting Wave of Nostalgia – in Main Street – to launch her fifth novel, The Book of Secrets.

She will be at the shop from 7pm, reading from the book and signing copies.

Diane says: "Anna is an inspirational woman in her own right. I love her chilling, mesmerising and darkly delicious historical thriller, and particularly the strong female characters. For anyone who can’t make it to Haworth for the event, we'll also be sharing it via Zoom."

Tickets are available, priced £5, by calling at the shop or online at waveofnostalgia.co.uk/event-tickets