The Costa Book Awards is one of the most prestigious and popular literary prizes in the UK and recognises some of the most enjoyable books of the year by writers based in the UK and Ireland.
The shortlists have been announced for the five categories: First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book. The winner in each category will receive £5,000, and one of those five books will be selected as the overall winner of the Book of the Year and receive a further £25,000.
Costa Children's Award
* Solace of the Road by Siobhan Dowd
* Troubadour by Mary Hoffman
* The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
* Guantanamo Boy by Anna Perera
Costa First Novel Award
* The Finest Type of English Womanhood by Rachel Heath
* John the Revelator by Peter Murphy
* Beauty by Raphael Selbourne
* The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw
Costa Novel Award
* Family Album by Penelope Lively
* Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
* The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson
* Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
Costa Biography Award
* The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Quantum Genius by Graham Farmelo
* The Music Room by William Fiennes
* Coda by Simon Gray
* Dancing to the Precipice by Caroline Moorehead
Costa Poetry Award
* Angels Over Elsinore by Clive James
* One Eye'd Leigh by Katharine Kilalea
* Darwin: A Life in Poems by Ruth Padel
* A Scattering by Christopher Reid
The award winners in all five categories will be announced on Tuesday 5 January and the 2009 Costa Book of the Year on Tuesday 26 January 2010.
Full details.
