Tahmima Anam's <i>A Golden Age</i> on Guardian award shortlist

Bangladeshi writer Tahmima Anam's novel on our 1971 war of independence A Golden Age (John Murray: London) is one of five books on this year's Guardian First Book Award shortlist. The others are Rajiv Chandrasekaram's Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone (nonfiction), Catherine O'Flynn's What Was Lost (novel), Dinaw Mengestu's America, Children of the Revolution (novel), and Rosemary Hill's God's Architect (biography).
The prize was called the Guardian Fiction Prize, when it was first instituted by the newspaper in 1965. The prize money then was 210 pounds sterling and was given only to a work of fiction. It underwent a change in 1999 when the title was changed to Guardian First Book Award and was thrown open to works across all genres. The prize money has also grown to 10,000 pounds sterling. The judging process is somewhat unique in that it involves readers' groups in the initial selection process. The judging panel is chaired by Claire Armistead, the paper's literary editor, while among the six judges this year is also the Pakistani writer Kamila Shamsie. Zadie Smith's White Teeth was the winner in 2000.
We wish Tahmima Anam all the luck in the contest. The winner will be announced in December.