\n Fiction<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Sweat by Emma Healey (Hutchinson Heinemann)\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Poppyland by DJ Taylor (Salt)\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Florrie: A Football Love Story by Anna Trench (Jonathan Cape)<\/p>\n \n \n Poetry<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 To Make People Happy by John Osborne (Mariscat Press)\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Buying the Farm by Eliza O\u2019Toole (Shearsman Books)\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Kiss My Earth by Alice Willitts (Blue Diode Press)\n<\/p>\n \n History and Tradition<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Finding the Wayfarer: Physical, Spiritual and Poetic Survival by Emma Rose Barber (Tandem Publishing Ltd)\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 To the Eel Island: An Evening Journey by Charles Moseley (Merlin Unwin Books)\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Broadland: Shaping Marsh and Fen by Tom Williamson and Alison Yardy (University of Hertfordshire Press)\n<\/p>\n \n \n Biography and Memoir<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Named: A Story of Names and Reclaiming Who We Are by Camilla Balshaw (Bedford Square Publishers)\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 I Love You, Byeee by Adam Buxton (HarperCollins)\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 No Country for a Woman: The Adventurous Life of Lady Dorothy Mills, Explorer and Writer by Jane Dismore (The History Press)\n<\/p>\n \n General Non-Fiction<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Neurodivergent, By Nature by Joe Harkness (Bloomsbury)\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Flint Country: A Stone Journey by Laurence Mitchell (Saraband)\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Go West by Steve Silk (Summersdale)\n<\/p>\n \n Children\u2019s Books<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Ghost Tide by Jim Cockin (Eye Books)\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 A Symphony of Stories: Musical Myths and Tuneful Tales by James Mayhew (Otter-Barry Books Ltd)\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Trouble at the Bug Hotel by Kathryn Simmonds (Walker Books)\n<\/p>\n \n Debut Novels<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Silver Harvest by Daryl Fraser (Story Machine)\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 The Eights by Joanna Miller (Fig Tree)\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Season by George Harrison (Eye Books)\n<\/p>\n \n Among the shortlisted authors is Adam Buxton, the much-loved comedian, podcaster, actor and director. His memoir, I Love You, Byeee, has been shortlisted in the Biography and Memoir category.\n<\/p>\n \n Adam said: “I\u2019m delighted to have been nominated for an East Anglian Book Awards for I Love You, Byeee. The book, like my podcast which for 10 years has started and ended with me talking to listeners on walks in the fields outside Norwich with my dog friend Rosie, has East Anglian life in its DNA, so it feels great to get the nod from my East Anglian peers!”\n<\/p>\n \n Also shortlisted is Suffolk-based writer James Mayhew, who has been creating books for children for over 30 years. His latest title, A Symphony of Stories, has been nominated in the Children\u2019s Book category.\n<\/p>\n \n \n He said: “East Anglia has always been home, and to be shortlisted for this particular prize means a great deal to me. At a time when the arts and music are often hard to access, especially in rural communities, I am really happy that A Symphony of Stories has been recognised as a book that can help inspire children to explore stories, through music and illustration.”\n<\/p>\n \n Category winners will be announced in the Eastern Daily Press and East Anglian Daily Times in January 2026, followed by the Overall Book of the Year and City of Literature Awards, presented at a special event at the National Centre for Writing in Norwich on Thursday February 12, 2026. Tickets are on sale now.\n<\/p>\n \n City of Literature Award 2025<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n Also announced is the shortlist for the first-ever City of Literature Award, supported by Norwich UNESCO City of Literature. This new award honours individuals and organisations making an outstanding contribution to the region\u2019s literary life through community engagement, publishing innovation or literary advocacy.\n<\/p>\n \n The nominees are:\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 George Szirtes, acclaimed poet, translator and mentor, known for his lifelong contribution to East Anglian writing.\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Lotte L.S., founder of red herring press in Great Yarmouth, championing local writers and community creativity.\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Mai Black, poet and founder of the Suffolk Writers Group, a welcoming space for writers to share work and inspiration.\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 Poets in the Cellar, a grassroots poetry community which hosts events at The Bicycle Shop in Norwich and has now published its first zine.\n<\/p>\n \n \u2022 The Norfolk Reading Project, a volunteer-run charity supporting literacy in Norfolk\u2019s primary schools.\n<\/p>\n \n \n Mai Black said: “A Norwich girl by birth, I moved to Suffolk in 2011 and founded Suffolk Writers Group four years later. It means a lot to have my work recognised like this and I\u2019m so proud to be part of our thriving literary community.”\n<\/p>\n \n The winner of the City of Literature Award 2025 will be decided by public vote, open now at nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk\/eaba until Friday 12 December 12, 2025.\n<\/p>\n \n Celebrating regional bookshops<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n \n In addition to recognising writers and publishers, the East Anglian Book Awards also celebrate the vital role of independent bookshops in sustaining the region\u2019s literary culture.\n<\/p>\n \n Henry Layte, founder and owner of The Book Hive and independent publisher Propolis, won the Exceptional Contribution Award at the East Anglian Book Awards 2024.\n<\/p>\n \n He said: “The East Anglian Book Awards is the most prestigious recognition of the breadth of literary work taking place in this part of the country. Unlike other similar awards they are not about regional self-congratulation and glitzy pomp; instead, they select and highlight the very best in writing and publishing and shout about it on a national platform. They help cultivate and celebrate excellence, for which readers, booksellers and writers alike should be grateful for.\n<\/p>\n \n “On a personal note, I am extremely honoured to have had several books I have published be shortlisted or winners in various categories, and last year I was given the Exceptional Contribution award. I can testify to the very positive impact of being a recipient of recognition at the East Anglian Book Awards!”\n<\/p>\n \n To qualify for this year\u2019s awards, works must be set predominantly in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk or Suffolk or authored by someone living in the region.\n<\/p>\n \n Books must have been published for the first time between August 6 2024 and August 5 2025. They must have been commercially available in physical bookshops.\n<\/p>\n \n For full details, visit the National Centre for Writing website: nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk\/eaba.\n<\/p>\n \n Since its inception, the East Anglian Book Awards have honoured more than 150 authors, 200 titles and 100 publishers. Past winners include The Meaning of Geese by Nick Acheson, Iron Man by Lynne Bryan, The House of One Hundred Clocks by A.M. Howell, and After Me Comes The Flood by Sarah Perry, who later won the Baileys Women\u2019s Prize for Fiction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Now in their 18th year, the awards are presented by the National Centre for Writing, in partnership with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509222,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3938],"tags":[3444,77,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-509221","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-books","8":"tag-books","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115394764422299207","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}(Image: Emily Gray Photography)\n<\/p>\n
(Image: National Centre for Writing)\n<\/p>\n
(Image: Contributed by National Centre for Writing)\n<\/p>\n
(Image: National Centre for Writing)\n<\/p>\n