Writers are now able to submit their entries for the 2025 Isle of Wight Book Awards.

The awards are in their fourth year, and are open to anyone who had a book published in 2024 which is either about or set on the Island.

The author can be living anywhere in the world, so long as their book contains at least some Isle of Wight-related content. The books can be professionally published or self-published; previous winners have been fairly evenly spread across both types, but the books must have a physical form, they cannot be ebooks.

To enter, authors or publishers need to complete the on-line application forms on the awards website, and drop off two copies of their book either at Medina Bookshop, Cowes, Monkton Arts, Ryde, Babushka Books, Shanklin, or Mrs Middleton’s Bookshop, Freshwater.

Closing date is May 31.

There are three categories: Children’s, Fiction and Non-Fiction. This year’s Awards Presentation Lunch will be the first event of the IW Literary Festival and will be held at the Island Sailing Club, Cowes, from noon on Tuesday, October 7. It will feature an opening speech by the awards’ founder, Hunter Davies, and the judges will be on hand to announce the winners and present the awards.

This year’s prizes are £200 for each of the category winners, and an additional £500 for the overall winner of the Book of the Year.

As with previous years, the awards event will have a chosen charity which is Sporting Opportunities IW, an independent sports charity offering training and competition opportunities to athletes with learning disabilities on the Island.

Paul Armfield, who co-ordinates the awards, said: “Of course writing is not a competition, but the ultimate spirit of the awards is to celebrate books about the Island, and to raise their profile so that people get to hear of them; they also encourage new writing, and give budding writers something to aim for.

“It’s a fun way to keep the story alive, and by being part of the Literary Festival, it creates a further opportunity for local talent to be included in the bigger picture.”

You can find out more at iw.observer/iw-book-awards.