A long way to the shortlist: choosing the Guardian first book award finalists

Reading through the enormous variety of debuts – from biography to memoir to poetry and fiction and beyond – has been a tough but exciting challenge

There is something wonderfully expectant about a prize for a first book, particularly one that welcomes first-time writers regardless of genre, category, form or language.

The varied rollcall of past recipients (Yiyun Li, Jonathan Safran Foer, Petina Gappah, Zadie Smith, Dinaw Mengestu among them), and the Guardian first book award’s international status, makes the reading journey more of a quest than – as some book awards seem to be – a standard nod to likely candidates.