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, announced at an awards ceremony in London every January.

2014 shortlists are

Novel

Neel Mukherjee for The Lives of Others

Monique Roffey for House of Ashes

Ali Smith for How to Be Both

Colm Tóibín for Nora Webster

First novel

Carys Bray for A Song for Issy Bradley

Mary Costello for Academy Street

Emma Healey for Elizabeth is Missing

Simon Wroe for Chop Chop

Biography

John Campbell for Roy Jenkins: A Well-Rounded Life

Marion Coutts for The Iceberg: A Memoir

Helen Macdonald for H is for Hawk

Henry Marsh for Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery

Poetry

Colette Bryce for The Whole and Rain-domed Universe

Jonathan Edwards for My Family and Other Superheroes

Lavinia Greenlaw for A Double Sorrow: Troilus and Criseyde

Kei Miller for The Cartographer Tries to Map a Way to Zion

Children’s book

Simon Mason for Running Girl

Michael Morpurgo for Listen to the Moon

Kate Saunders for Five Children on the Western Front

Marcus Sedgwick for The Ghosts of Heaven