The nominees for this year’s Sky Arts Awards have been announced, with Brat superstar Charli XCX, controversial rap trio Kneecap and contemporary author Sally Rooney all making the cut.
The awards showcase the very best of British and Irish arts and culture, celebrating achievements across all arts, ranging from classical music, film, and poetry to popular music, TV and visual arts.
It’s the second year of the awards show, which builds on the long legacy of the South Bank Sky Arts Awards.
In the popular music category, Charli XCX is nominated for her album Brat, up against Kneecap’s Fine Art and Lola Young’s This Wasn’t Meant for You Anyway.
Kneecap make a second appearance in the film category, nominated alongside Rich Peppiatt’s BAFTA-winning biopic Kneecap, political thriller Conclave and Karan Kandhari’s black comedy, Sister Midnight.
Irish-language rappers Kneecap make two appearances in this year’s Sky Arts Awards nominations. Pic: PA
The TV category boasts Netflix hit Adolescence, the BBC’s Bernardine Evaristo adaptation Mr Loverman and Disney+ Jilly Cooper romp Rivals.
Making it a double nod for Adolescence, the drama’s young star Owen Cooper is nominated as up-and-coming talent in the Times breakthrough category.
The 15-year-old actor is up against visual artist Alex Margo Arden, for her first solo exhibition, Safety Curtain, and writer Nussaibah Younis for her debut novel, Fundamentally.
Author Sally Rooney. Pic: Reuters
Writers Alan Hollinghurst, Gwyneth Lewis and Sally Rooney all have nods in the literature category, for their respective novels Our Evenings, Nightshade Mother: A Disentangling, and Intermezzo.
Meanwhile, in the theatre category, Royal Court Artistic Director David Byrne, founder of CRIPtic Arts Jamie Hale, and Barnsley-based Lung are all nominated.
The lifetime achievement award recipient is yet to be announced.
Frothy and fun, Rivals was a big hit – and season two’s on the way. Pic: PA/Disney+
Phil Edgar-Jones, director of Sky Arts, said: “The Sky Arts Awards remain the only night of the year in which all the arts are recognised at once.
“Poets and sopranos join actors, writers, dancers and musicians to celebrate the contributions they have made to the sector which not only fuels our economy but brings us joy, empathy and hope.”
The Sky Arts Awards will be held at London’s Roundhouse, on Tuesday 16 September, hosted by comedian Bill Bailey.
Full list of Sky Arts Awards nominees:
Classical Music
Bold Tendencies – Body of work
Errollyn Wallen – Body of work
Manchester Camerata – Body of work
Comedy
Elf Lyons – Horses
Jen Brister – Body of work
Sarah Keyworth – My Eyes Are Up Here
Dance
Lost Dog – Ruination
Nederland Dans Theatre and Complicité – Figures in Extinction
Stopgap Dance Company – Lived Fiction
Film
Conclave
Kneecap
Sister Midnight
Literature
Alan Hollinghurst – Our Evenings
Gwyneth Lewis – Nightshade Mother: A Disentangling
Sally Rooney – Intermezzo
Opera
Garsington Opera – Body of Work
Opera North – Simone Boccanegra
Sound Voice – The Sound Voice Project
Poetry
Caleb Femi – The Wickedest
Janetta Otter-Barry – Body of work
Roundhouse – The Roundhouse Poetry Slam
Popular Music
Charli xcx – Brat
Kneecap – Fine Art
Lola Young – This Wasn’t Meant for You Anyway
Television
Adolescence (Netflix)
Mr Loverman (BBC)
Rivals (Disney+)
Theatre
David Byrne – Body of work
Jamie Hale – Body of work
Lung – The Children’s Inquiry
Visual Art
Barbara Walker – Being Here
Claudette Johnson – Three Women
Michelle Roberts – Body of work, including Red Blue Up
The Times Breakthrough Award
Alex Margo Arden (Visual art)
Nussaibah Younis (Literature)
Owen Cooper (TV)
