The James Tait Black Prizes, established in 1919, are Britain's longest running literary awards. The shortlists for the prizes have today been announced and recognise the best fiction and biography books of the year.

The James Tait Black Prizes are awarded by the University of Edinburgh’s School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures – the oldest centre for the study of English Literature in the world, established in 1762.

Two awards, each of £10,000, are presented annually for books published during the previous year – one for the best work of fiction and the other for the best biography. 

The James Tait Black Prizes are the only major book awards judged by scholars and students. The prizes are judged by senior staff from within the English Literature department at the University, assisted by a group of postgraduate students. 

Fiction

Alligator & Other Stories, Dima Alzayat (Picador)

The First Woman, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi (Oneworld)

A Children's Bible, Lydia Millet (WW Norton)

Lote, Shola von Reinhold (Jacaranda)

Biography

The Warrior, the Voyager, and the Artist: Three Lives in an Age of Empire, Kate Fullagar (Yale)

A Ghost in the Throat, Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Tramp Press)

Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverture, Sudhir Hazareesingh (Allen Lane)

Recollections of My Non-Existence, Rebecca Solnit (Granta)

Photos (top from left): Dima Alzayat, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, Lydia Millet, Shola von Reinhold; (bottom) Kate Fullagar, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, Sudhir Hazareesingh, Rebecca Solnit

The winners will be announced on 25 August at an event at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.