The shortlisted titles for the East Anglian Book Awards 2025, the region’s leading celebration of writing and publishing talent, have been announced — alongside the shortlist for the inaugural City of Literature Award.
Now in their eighteenth year, the awards are presented by the National Centre for Writing, in partnership with the Eastern Daily Press and Norwich UNESCO City of Literature, with support from UEA’s Faculty of Arts & Humanities.
This year marks an exciting expansion, with eligibility widened to include books and writers from Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The broader scope reflects East Anglia’s reputation as a region of ‘big skies and bold stories’ – celebrating the voices, books and ideas born from East Anglia’s rich literary and cultural landscape.
Peggy Hughes, CEO of the National Centre for Writing, says:
‘Big skies, bold stories — and, with the introduction of a new City of Literature Award and expanded eligibility criteria, an even broader celebration of East Anglian writers and publishers than ever before. We are proud and delighted to present this year’s shortlists, confident that the tapestry of words and ideas emerging from our region is richer than ever. My heartfelt congratulations to all those shortlisted; I can’t wait to read your work!’
The shortlisted titles are:
Biography & Memoir
- Named: A Story of Names and Reclaiming Who We Are by Camilla Balshaw (Bedford Square Publishers)
- I Love You, Byeee by Adam Buxton (HarperCollins)
- No Country for a Woman: The Adventurous Life of Lady Dorothy Mills, Explorer and Writer by Jane Dismore (The History Press)
Children’s Books
- Ghost Tide by Jim Cockin (Eye Books)
- A Symphony of Stories: Musical Myths and Tuneful Tales by James Mayhew (Otter-Barry Books Ltd)
- Trouble at the Bug Hotel by Kathryn Simmonds (Walker Books)
Debut Novels
- Silver Harvest by Daryl Fraser (Story Machine)
- The Eights by Joanna Miller (Fig Tree)
- Season by George Harrison (Eye Books)
Fiction
- Sweat by Emma Healey (Hutchinson Heinemann)
- Poppyland by DJ Taylor (Salt)
- Florrie: A Football Love Story by Anna Trench (Jonathan Cape)
General Non-Fiction
- Neurodivergent, By Nature by Joe Harkness (Bloomsbury)
- Flint Country: A Stone Journey by Laurence Mitchell (Saraband)
- Go West by Steve Silk (Summersdale)
History & Tradition
- Finding the Wayfarer: Physical, Spiritual and Poetic Survival by Emma Rose Barber (Tandem Publishing Ltd)
- To the Eel Island: An Evening Journey by Charles Moseley (Merlin Unwin Books)
- Broadland: Shaping Marsh and Fen by Tom Williamson & Alison Yardy (University of Hertfordshire Press)
Poetry
- To Make People Happy by John Osborne (Mariscat Press)
- Buying the Farm by Eliza O’Toole (Shearsman Books)
- Kiss My Earth by Alice Willitts (Blue Diode Press)
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 & Memoir category. Adam said:
‘I’m 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!’
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’s Book category. 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.’
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.
Also announced today 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’s literary life – through community engagement, publishing innovation or literary advocacy.
The City of Literature Award nominees are:
- George Szirtes, acclaimed poet, translator and mentor, known for his lifelong contribution to East Anglian writing.
- Lotte L.S., poet and founder of red herring press in Great Yarmouth, championing local writers and community creativity.
- Mai Black, poet and founder of the Suffolk Writers Group, a welcoming space for writers to share work and inspiration.
- Poets in the Cellar, a grassroots poetry community which hosts events at The Bicycle Shop in Norwich and has now published its first zine.
- The Norfolk Reading Project, a volunteer-run charity supporting literacy in Norfolk’s primary schools.
The winner of the City of Literature Award 2025 will be decided by public vote. Read more about each nominee below, then cast your vote by clicking ‘Vote here’.
The deadline for voting is Friday 12 December 2025.
George Szirtes
Hungarian-born George Szirtes is an acclaimed poet, translator and mentor, known for his lifelong contribution to East Anglian writing.
George’s twelfth book of poems, Reel (2004) won the T S Eliot Prize for which he has been twice shortlisted since. His books of poetry since then are Fresh Out of the Sky (2021) and his collaboration with Alvin Pang, Diaphanous (2023). His memoir, The Photographer at Sixteen was awarded the James Tait Black Prize in 2020. In 2024 he was awarded the King’s Gold Medal for Poetry.
Lotte L.S.
Lotte L.S. is a poet. In 2020 she started red herring press to print, publish and distribute local writing within and beyond Great Yarmouth. In 2023, with the intention of expanding what a publishing press can do—and how writing, reading and publishing can be more meaningfully part of the wider social, economic and political conditions in which they occur—the press opened a space in the centre of town, running creative writing courses, a Homework Club for kids in the neighbourhood, Creative ESOL classes, and continuing to print and publish local writing.
Mai Black
Mai Black is the author of Thirty Angry Ghosts and founder of Suffolk Writers Group. Her debut historical novel The Women Who Saved Shakespeare is due for release in May 2026.
Mai has supported numerous local creative initiatives, including literary festivals, BBC Radio’s Suffolk Day, Wild Words Suffolk, Poetry Walks, and the One Million Haiku Challenge. Mai’s Suffolk Writers Group on Facebook features daily writing challenges, community chat and interactive games. It has been described by many as ‘the friendliest place on the internet’.
Poets in the Cellar
Poets in the Cellar is a local, Queer-friendly poetry night which champions the art from new voices among a growing community. The event is run by Norwich-based writer and English teacher, James Ward, who has been trapped in this fine city since he studied at UEA seven years ago. His writing is best described as surreal and fantastical, evoking vivid scenes through an existential lens.
Poets in the Cellar recently self-published their second zine, burning, launched at their welcoming and inspiring live event. The event runs every last Thursday of the month at the Bicycle Shop, St. Benedict’s Street.
The Norfolk Reading Project
One in four Norfolk children don’t reach the expected level of reading by the age of 11 — and deprived areas of the county are disproportionately affected.
The Norfolk Reading Project (TNRP) is a charity that trains volunteers and pairs them with schools to support children’s reading on a one-to-one basis.
Volunteers help children to decode words with phonics, fostering a joy of reading by talking together about stories, characters and imagination.
In the last decade, TNRP — a free service, running on donations and grants — has trained over 600 volunteers and now works with more than 100 schools.
Category winners will be announced 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 12 February 2026.
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’s Prize for Fiction.
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