ENTRIES for the 2018 Lakeland Book of the Year are in - and once again they highlight Cumbria as being an inspirational literary destination.

Covering topics ranging from history to horticulture, farming to family-friendly, the all-star judging panel now has the unenviable task of whittling down almost 50 books to find the winners of the six categories. One of those categories is the highly-coveted Hunter Davies (OBE) Lakeland Book of the Year Award.

Alongside Hunter Davies, the judging panel consist of Gardeners’ Question Time chairman, broadcaster and Cumbria Tourism chairman Eric Robson, alongside BBC newscaster and author Fiona Armstrong.

Once a judges’ decision has been made, all prizes will be awarded at a glittering charity awards luncheon, held this year at the Castle Green Hotel, Kendal on Wednesday July 10. This year’s chosen charity is St Mary’s Hospice in Ulverston.

As well as the ultimate accolade, the five additional prizes on offer are:

• The Striding Edge Productions Prize for Guides and Places

• The Latitude Press Prize for Illustration and Presentation

• The Zeffirellis Prize for People and Business

• The Bookends Prize for Arts and Literature

• The Bill Rollinson Prize for Landscape and Tradition

Now in their 34th year, the Lakeland Book of the Year awards are recognised as being one of the most prestigious literary prizes outside London.

They are open to new writers, as well as established authors, and with the only caveat is that they must feature Cumbria in some way.

Judge and Cumbria Tourism chairman, Eric Robson, describes the 2018 entrants as “an exciting mix of every type of literature which I can’t wait to read."

"Every entry offers a different perspective of Cumbria and shows just how many layers this county has and what it represents to these fantastic writers,” he said.

The full list of entries for Lakeland Book of the Year includes: Bob Orrell, One Man's Windermere; John Farebrother, The Dammed Balkans- a refugee road trip; Chris Rodgers, Trapped in Moonshine Mine; Geoff Pegg, The Lives Beneath Our Feet; Melanie Dobson, Enchanted Isle; Andrea Meanwell, In My Boots: A Year on a Lake District Farm; Robert Gambles, Word from the Wildwood; John Sharpe, The Police and Me; The late Mike Davies-Shiel, Water-Power Mills of South Lakeland; Patricia M Hitchon, Botcherby - A Garden Village; David Joy, Introduction to the Railways of Cumbria; David Ellwood, Yarns from the Ropeworks; John C Mather, Challenging Waters; Janet Procter, The Arrival of Dinky Donkey; David Cross, Public Sculpture of Lancashire & Cumbria; Peter Connon, An Aeronautical History of the Cumbria, Dumfries & Galloway Region; Peter R Sherratt, River Song; Mike Gardner, Boxer, The Life of a Cumbrian Great; Trevor Hughes and Arthur Nicholls, The Yards of Kendal; Brenda Leeses, There She Grows: Women in Plant Names; John Stoke, Mary and Flora: Flora to the Rescue and Mary's Numbers; John Little, The Collier's Daughter; Keith Cartner, Fabulous Beasts & Fantastic Adventures; Keith Cartner, Marvellous Machinations & Animal Antics; Paul Renouf, Ambleside, The Gruff Guide; Harriet Fraser and Rob Fraser, The Long View; Arlecdon History Group, Frizington - From Iron-Ore to Hats Galore; Irena Grajewska-Armstrong and Steve Armstrong, Colour Sketch - The Lake District; Phil Rigby, Portrait of Cumbria; Mark A Cooper, Archie Wilson & The Beasts of Loch Ness; Terry McCormick, Lake District Fell Farming; Jim Cox, Who Shot Percy Toplis?; Ray Greenhow, Britain's First Black Policeman; Bill Brown, The Time Tunnel; Clare Crossman, Winter Flowers: The Life and Work of Lorna Graves 1947-2006; Alan Michael Whitworth, The Thunder of Guns; Michael A Mullett, A New History of Penrith Book II- Penrith under the Tudors; Michael A Mullett, A New History of Penrith Book III- Penrith in the Stuart Century 1603-1714; Stephen Matthews, The Sun Shines Fair on Carlisle Wall Vol.l; Stephen Matthews, The Sun Shines Fair on Carlisle Wall Vol.ll; Angela Locke, Mrs Mullett and the Cloak of Gaia; Wendy Ellwood, Ping the Red; Karen Lloyd, The Blackbird Diaries; Andy Beck, The Wainwrights in Colour; James Bell, Capture Lakeland; Katie Hale, Breaking the Surface; Ian Hall, Thorneythwaite Farm Borrowdale.