Books shortlisted for the East Anglian Book Awards. Picture: Denise Bradley

The East Anglian Book Awards highlight quality new books about our part of the world. Today we can reveal this year’s contenders.

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Today we announce the shortlists for this year’s EDP-Jarrold East Anglian Book Awards, the annual celebration of the best new writing inspired by our region.

The judges have been busy over the summer reading the entries and now we can reveal the top books in each of the seven categories.

One book per category will be declared the winner at our evening ceremony at the Assembly House, Norwich, on November 3 – and then one of these seven will also be named the overall East Anglian Book of the Year, which brings a prize of £250 in Jarrold vouchers.

This year our star guest will be Mark Cocker, one of the country’s foremost nature writers, whose books include the highly acclaimed Birds Britannica and Crow Country.

Mr Cocker, who lives in a village in the Yare Valley, will hand over the trophies and give a talk about the cultural significance of the East Anglian countryside.

This is the fourth East Anglian Book Awards; last year’s overall winner was The Widow’s Tale, by Mick Jackson (Faber and Faber), a novel set in north Norfolk that won the Fiction category.

This year’s shortlisted entries are as follows:

Fiction: for novels and short stories that are predominantly set in East Anglia.

Judged by B J Epstein, lecturer in literature and translation at UEA.

* 22 Britannia Road, by Amanda Hodgkinson (Fig Tree/Penguin)

* Life: An Exploded Diagram, by Mal Peet (Walker Books)

* Daughters-in-Law, by Joanna Trollope (Doubleday)

Poetry: for collections or pamphlets of poetry that are inspired by our region.

Judged by Lavinia Greenlaw, who runs the poetry MA course at UEA, where she is a professor of creative writing.

* The Spinney, by Philip Michael Goodman (Geo. R Reeve)

* Another Use of Canvas, by Angus Sinclair (Gatehouse Press)

* Flatlands, by Victor Tapner (Salt Publishing)

History and Tradition: histories, studies of folklore, works on local culture or dialect all fit into this category.

Judged by Steve Snelling, a respected military historian and former EDP journalist.

* Films Were Made: Volume Two, by David Cleveland (self-published)

* Norwich Pubs and Breweries Past and Present, by Frances and Michael Holmes (Norwich Heritage Projects)

* William Faden and Norfolk’s 18th- Century Landscape, by Andrew Macnair and Tom Williamson (Windgather Press)

Biography and Memoir: for life stories written by or about people living in Norfolk, Suffolk or Fenland.

Judged by Kathryn Hughes, biographer and professor of life-writing at UEA.

* Whatever Next?, by Earl Ferrers (Biteback Publishing)

* Knapton: 20th-Century Village Voices, edited by Gillian Shephard (Biteback Publishing).

* Edith Cavell, by Diana Souhami (Quercus)

Places and Nature: for books about the nature or landscape of East Anglia.

Judged by David North, the education manager at Norfolk Wildlife Trust and author of several books on wildlife. In this category we have a shortlist of two books:

* The Norfolk Cranes’ Story, by Chris Durdin and John Buxton (Wren Publishing)

* This Luminous Coast, by Jules Pretty (Full Circle Editions)

Art and Photography: for works compiling art and/or photography depicting the region.

Judged by Amanda Geitner, head of collections and exhibitions at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the UEA.

* Wells-next-the-Sea – People and Places, by Janet Angles and John Warham (Thornham Local History Society)

* Water Marks, by Ian Collins (Black Dog Books)

* The Aldeburgh Scallop, by Maggi Hambling (Full Circle Editions)

Guidebooks and Travel: for books describing walks, tours or attractions to visit in East Anglia.

Judged by Keith Skipper, the well-known Norfolk author and broadcaster.

* Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path, by Alexander Stewart (Trailblazer)

* The Blue Plaques of Norwich, by Nick Williams (Norwich Heritage Economic and Regeneration Trust)

* Green Pebble’s Art! East Anglia (Green Pebble Publishing).

The East Anglian Book Awards are once again supported by Writers’ Centre Norwich, which supports emerging writers and holds literary events in Norfolk, and by CUE East, which works to connect the University of East Anglia with events taking place in the wider community.

The awards celebrate the best books about Norfolk, Suffolk and Fenland to have been published within the last year.

Tickets will go on sale soon for the ceremony on November 3, which will be hosted by broadcaster Carol Bundock.