SEVEN finalists have been shortlisted for the 2022 ACT Book of the Year Award, from 43 eligible nominations received for books published in 2021.

Each year the ACT Book of the Year Award recognises high-quality, contemporary literary works by ACT-based authors and this year’s nominations include works across the genres of drama, poetry, fiction, social history and memoir.

The winner of the ACT Book of the Year will be announced in coming weeks.

The shortlisted authors are:

• “Milk” by Dylan van den Berg
• “The Kindness of Birds” by Merlinda Bobis
• “Two Afternoons in the Kabul Stadium: A History of Afghanistan Through Clothes, Carpets and the Camera” by Tim Bonyhady
• “Killernova” by Omar Musa
• “Believe in Me” by Lucy Neave
• “Failures of Command: The Death of Private Robert Poate” by Hugh Poate
• “As Beautiful As Any Other: A Memoir of My Body” by Kaya Wilson