Mandela: An Audio History won the award for Audiobook of the Year, and Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book took home the prize for Distinguished Achievement in Production Thursday night at the 20th annual Audie Awards Gala in New York City.

The Graveyard Book, which was narrated by the author and a full cast for HarperAudio, also nabbed the awards for Children's Titles For Ages 8-12 and Multi-Voiced Performance, while Mandela: An Audio History—narrated by Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, and Joe Richman for HighBridge Audio—also won the award for Original Work.

"It's an amazing piece of work," said Frank Randall, editor at HighbBridge Audio, about Mandela, which originated as a five-part series from Radio Diaries, a non-profit that works with people to chronicle their lives for public radio. "It's fantastic to listen to. It's moving. It's great history. It's great storytelling...It's a real history told by real people, and I think that's what makes it stand out as an audio[book]."

According to Joe Richman, founder and executive producer of Radio Diaries, the company is best known for telling stories of ordinary life and everyday people, and Mandela was something of a departure from the work they usually do.

"The project started out as a biography of Mandela and as we went along it became more and more a story of that chapter of history," Richman said. "There's such an incredible narrative to the whole story."

This year's Audies was hosted by bestselling author Jack Gantos at the New York Academy of Medicine. Bahni Turpin won the award for Solo Narration – Female for her reading of Laila Ibrahim's Yellow Crocus (Brilliance Audio) and Bronson Pinchot won for Solo Narration – Male for his performance of Christopher Healy's The Hero's Guide to Being an Outlaw (HarperAudio). A Special Achievement Award was presented posthumously to acclaimed actor and narrator Edward Herrmann.

The Audie Award winners by category are as follows:

AUDIOBOOK OF THE YEAR
Mandela: An Audio History (HighBridge Audio: A division of Recorded Books)

DISTINGUISHED ACHIEVEMENT IN PRODUCTION
The Graveyard Book (HarperAudio)

AUTOBIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR
Not My Father’s Son (HarperAudio)

HISTORY/BIOGRAPHY
The Bully Pulpit (Simon & Schuster)

BUSINESS/EDUCATIONAL
A More Beautiful Question (Audible)

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT
What I Know For Sure (Macmillan Audio)

NON-FICTION
Furious Cool (Tantor Media)

JUDGES’ AWARD: SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
The Second Machine Age (Brilliance Audio)

PACKAGE DESIGN
Light at the End (Big Finish Productions)

HUMOR
Yes Please (HarperAudio)

INSPIRATIONAL/FAITH-BASED NON-FICTION
Before Amen (Thomas Nelson)

INSPIRATIONAL/FAITH-BASED FICTION
The Auschwitz Escape (Brilliance Audio)

EROTICA
Alpha (ACX/Seth Clarke)

ROMANCE
The Bridges of Madison County (Hachette Audio)

FICTION
All the Light We Cannot See (Simon & Schuster)

LITERARY FICTION
Euphoria (Blackstone Audio)

CLASSIC
The New York Stories (Penguin Random House Audio)

SHORT STORIES/COLLECTIONS
The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher (Macmillan Audio)

CHILDREN’S TITLES FOR AGES UP TO 8
H.O.R.S.E. (Live Oak Media)

CHILDREN’S TITLES FOR AGES 8-12
The Graveyard Book (HarperAudio)

TEENS
Egg & Spoon (Brilliance Audio)

MYSTERY
The Silkworm (Hachette Audio)

THRILLER/SUSPENSE
Those Who Wish Me Dead (Hachette Audio)

SCIENCE FICTION
The Martian (Podium Publishing)

FANTASY
Words of Radiance (Macmillan Audio)

PARANORMAL
The Girl with All the Gifts (Hachette Audio)

MULTI-VOICED PERFORMANCE
The Graveyard Book (HarperAudio)

AUDIO DRAMA
The Hound of the Baskervilles (L.A. Theatre Works)

ORIGINAL WORK
Mandela: An Audio History (HighBridge Audio: A division of Recorded Books)

NARRATION BY THE AUTHOR OR AUTHORS
Not My Father’s Son (HarperAudio)

SOLO NARRATION – FEMALE
Bahni Turpin for Yellow Crocus (Brilliance Audio)

SOLO NARRATION – MALE
Bronson Pinchot for The Hero’s Guide to Being an Outlaw (HarperAudio)