The five authors who will contend for the 2003 Whitbread Prize for Book of the Year have been announced. These are the winners in each of the Whitbread's sub-categories:

• DBC Pierre (pictured) for Vernon God Little in the First Novel Award category. (NB: DBC Pierre is the pen name of Australian writer Peter Finlay, winner of the 2003 Man Booker Prize.)

• Mark Haddon for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time which, after receiving numerous children's and teenage fiction awards, has won the Novel Award.

• DJ Taylor - a judge for the 2003 Man Booker Prize - for his biography of Orwell, following the centenary of Orwell's birth.

• Multi-award-winning poet Don Paterson for Landing Light.

• David Almond for The Fire-Eaters, his second Whitbread Award in the Children's Book Award category (he first won in 1998 for Skellig)

The Whitbread judges will meet on 27 January to select the winner of the 2003 Whitbread Book of the Year, which will be announced at a ceremony later that evening.