Local writers, post-graduate students and teachers from the prestigious University of East Anglia (UEA) School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing and School of History are among those who will judge the submissions for the coveted East Anglian Book Awards, which celebrate the outstanding literary culture of our region.

The full list of category judges is:

Biography & Memoir

Anamika Bhattacharjee, PhD researcher in History at UEA

(Image: Contributed by National Centre for Writing)Fiction

Katherine Howe, award-winning historian and novelist

(Image: Beowulf Sheehan)

General Non-Fiction

Yin Lim, non-fiction writer and co-editor of Hinterland

(Image: Contributed by National Centre for Writing) History and Tradition

Pete Goodrum, bestselling writer and broadcaster

(Image: Dave Gutteridge) Poetry

Jessica Streeting, poet and novelist

(Image: Contributed by National Centre for Writing)

 

Mal Peet Children’s Award

Annie Rhodes, manager at Norfolk Children’s Book Centre

 

(Image: Contributed by National Centre for Writing)

The shortlisted books will be announced at the beginning of November, with the category winners announced in mid-January 2025.

The overall winner of the awards, which celebrate the very best of publishing, writing, and reading in the east of England, will be announced at a special event on Thursday February 13 2025.

Readers will also find out who has been awarded the Book by the Cover Award (judged by members of East Anglian Writers) and the Exceptional Contribution Award for an individual’s work within writing and publishing in the region.

Now in their 17th year, the East Anglian Book Awards recognise the books and writers who have been shaped by, and have helped to shape, the culture of the east of England.

Last year’s winner of East Anglian Book of the Year was Norfolk Wildlife Trust ambassador and Norfolk magazine columnist Nick Acheson for his non-fiction book, The Meaning of Geese (Chelsea Green Publishing).

Acheson said: "I feel hugely honoured and humbled because the quality of all the category winning books is so high and the authors are such visionaries. Each has spoken so lovingly about their subject, the books they have produced, and the story they had to tell. For someone to have read a story that I’ve written and appreciated it is just the most beautiful thing."

Since the awards began, they have highlighted the work of more than 150 authors, 200 titles and 100 publishers.

Previous winners include multi-award-winning author and naturalist Mark Cocker, and Sarah Perry, who went on to win the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction and whose novel The Essex Serpent became a Waterstones Book of the Year.

The award partners are the Norwich-based National Centre for Writing, Jarrolds and the Eastern Daily Press. They are supported by the University of East Anglia.