The Costa Book Awards honour some of the most outstanding books of the year written by authors based in the UK and Ireland. There are five categories - First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book - with one of the five winners chosen as Book of the Year.

Here are the shortlistees in each category.

Novel

• Days Without End by Sebastian Barry
• This Must Be the Place by Maggie O’Farrell
• The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry
• The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain

First novel

• The Good Guy by Susan Beale
• My Name Is Leon by Kit de Waal
• The Words in My Hand by Guinevere Glasfurd
• Golden Hill by Francis Spufford

Biography

• Dadland: A Journey Into Uncharted Territory by Keggie Carew
• Elizabeth: The Forgotten Years by John Guy
• The Return: Fathers, Sons and the Land in Between by Hisham Matar
• I’m Not With the Band: A Writer’s Life Lost in Music by Sylvia Patterson

Poetry

• Sunshine by Melissa Lee-Houghton
• Falling Awake by Alice Oswald
• Say Something Back by Denise Riley
• Let Them Eat Chaos by Kate Tempest

Children’s books

• The Bombs That Brought Us Together by Brian Conaghan
• Orangeboy by Patrice Lawrence
• The Monstrous Child by Francesca Simon
• Time Travelling With a Hamster by Ross Welford

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in London every January. Read more about the Costa book awards here.