The Children’s Fiction category spans a range of topics from sapphic gothic romance to a laugh-out-loud mystery adventure. Social media star and novelist Croucher makes the shortlist with their first YA book, historical fantasy rom-com Gwen and Art Are Not in Love (Bloomsbury YA). Croucher is joined by fellow Londoner and Japanese translator Kat Dunn with her second novel, a gothic love story, Bitterthorn (Andersen Press). Candy Gourlay, also based in London and a winner of the Philippines’ National Children’s Book Award, makes the shortlist with her ninth book: a coming-of-age tale, Wild Song (David Fickling Books). Beth Lincoln rounds off the list with her mystery adventure and debut novel The Swifts (Puffin). 

The Debut Fiction category features three of the Observer’s Best New Novelists of 2023 in Stephen Buoro, Tom Crewe and Michael Magee. Norwich-based Nigerian author Buoro is currently studying for a PhD in Creative & Critical Writing at the University of East Anglia and is nominated for his tragicomic novel The Five Sorrowful Mysteries of Andy Africa (Bloomsbury Circus). Buoro’s book sits alongside The New Life (Chatto & Windus), an historical tale of  desire by London Review of Books editor Crewe, who also features as one of Granta’s Best of Young British Novelists in 2023. They are joined by two Irish writers, Magee and Chloe Michelle Howarth. Magee’s Close to Home (Hamish Hamilton) – which won the Rooney Prize for Literature 2023 and was shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize 2023 – is set in Belfast, where Magee is the fiction editor of literary magazine the Tangerine. Sunburn (VERVE Books) by Brighton-based Howarth, an Evening Standard One To Watch in 2023, is a coming-of-age novel inspired in part by the author’s childhood in the West Cork countryside. 

In the Fiction category, there is an even split between books from independent presses and major publishing houses. Eleanor Catton, who was the youngest person to ever win the Booker Prize, is nominated for her psychological thriller Birnam Wood (Granta), while Karen Powell – who works for a North Yorkshire charity to conserve and restore York Minster – features for her reimagining of the lives of the Brontë family, Fifteen Wild Decembers (Europa Editions). Irish writer Paul Murray is shortlisted for his acclaimed comic novel, the 2023 Booker-shortlisted The Bee Sting (Hamish Hamilton), with Waterford-born Megan Nolan’s story of family secrets, Ordinary Human Failings (Jonathan Cape), completing the list. 

Four books by women make up the Non-Fiction shortlist, three of them by debut authors Fern Brady, Freya Bromley and Victoria Smith. Strong Female Character (Brazen) by the autistic, Scottish comedian Brady, who lives in London, and Hags (Fleet) by the feminist journalist Smith, who lives in Cheltenham, both tackle misogyny and its intersections with factors of neurodiversity and age, respectively. Undercurrent (Coronet) by the Cornish writer and poet Natasha Carthew – also the founder and artistic director of The Working-Class Writers’ Festival who writes all her books exclusively outside – highlights the issue of rural poverty and a life defined by the beauty of nature. The final title on the Non-Fiction shortlist is The Tidal Year (Coronet) by Londoner Bromley, an exploration of grief and the healing power of wild swimming. Bromley is the host of a podcast which shares its name with the book. 

Amanda Johnson, awards director, said: “The announcement of our shortlist is such an exciting milestone for the Nero Book Awards. We have here an incredible range of books that will speak to a variety of different audiences, from books based on true stories to fantasies to explorations of self, place and landscape. Huge congratulations to all the shortlisted authors and their publishers. We hope that everyone will find a new favourite book on this list.” 

A winning title from each of the four categories will be announced on 16th January 2024 and, of those, one book will be selected as the overall winner – The Nero Gold Prize – by a final panel of judges and announced at a ceremony in late February 2024. Each of the category winners receives £5,000, with the overall Nero Gold Prize — Book of the Year winner receiving an additional £30,000.