THE shortlist has been announced for the Lakeland Book of the Year 2022.

Now in their 38th year, the Lakeland Book of the Year awards are open to new writers, as well as established authors. The only caveat is that they must feature Cumbria in some way and this year’s submissions highlight the huge variety of both the county and its literary talent.

Covering almost every genre and subject, from local history and nature to stunning Cumbrian photography, this year’s entries have been narrowed down to a shortlist of 18, including:

The Bookends Prize for People & Business

More Deaths Than One (Ian Smith)

Panic as Man Burns Crumpets (Roger Lytollis)

Lowca (Geoff Stalker)

The Striding Edge Prize for Guides & Places

Walking The Line (Stan Abbott)

Peak Bagging: Wainwrights (Karen & Dan Parker)

Thirlmere Before the Dam (Ian Hall)

The Bill Rollinson Prize for Landscape & Tradition

Pele Towers of the Eden Valley (David Crackenthorpe)

Lakeland Wild (Jim Crumley)

The Lucks of Cumbria (Andrew Musgrave)

The Gilpin Hotel Prize for Fiction

The Storyteller's Supper (Taffy Thomas)

Brockenspectre (Caroline Moir)

Collateral Damage (Ruth Sutton)

The Wordsworth Grasmere Prize for Literature & Poetry

Cumbria: A Book of Days (Dawn Robertson)

Tale Pieces (Stephen Matthews)

Grid - An Outside Inside Journey Through Cumbria (Mark Griffiths)

The Latitude Press Prize for Illustration & Presentation

The Best Lakeland Views: Book One Ullswater - Haweswater – Brotherswater, (Colin Hindle)

String of Pearls (Editor: Margaret Wilson/ Photographer: Helen Shaw)

Joss Naylor's Lakes, Meres and Waters of the Lake District (Vivienne Crow with Joss Naylor)

The judging panel includes head judge and founder Hunter Davies OBE (prolific author and regular contributor to a range of national press outlets), Eric Robson OBE DL (broadcaster, former President of Cumbria Tourism and Chairman of The Wainwright Society) and Fiona Armstrong (ITV and BBC newscaster, author, journalist and Lord Lieutenant of Dumfries).

There are now less than three weeks until the winners are announced at a charity awards ceremony at Stonecross Manor in Kendal on Tuesday, July 12 with support from main event sponsors James Cropper PLC. One finalist will also be confirmed as the ultimate winner of Lakeland Book of the Year 2022.