 Jonathan Coe is nominated for biography of novelist BS Johnson |
The Rotters' Club author Jonathan Coe has been shortlisted for a �30,000 literary prize for his latest book Like a Fiery Elephant. Coe's biography of novelist BS Johnson is one of six nominees for the BBC Four Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction.
Debut books by Alexander Masters, Suketu Mehta and Sarah Wise are nominated alongside books by Orhan Pamuk and Hilary Spurling.
The UK's most valuable non-fiction prize, the winner is named on 14 June.
'Impressive range'
All shortlisted authors will receive �1,000 in the annual competition.
This year's judging panel includes BBC broadcasters Sue MacGregor and John Simpson.
Masters has been nominated for Stuart: A Life Backwards, Mehta is shortlisted for Maximum City, his study of Bombay (Mumbai) and Wise has been chosen for The Italian Boy: Murder and Grave-Robbery in 1830s London.
Pamuk's Istanbul and Spurling's Matisse the Master complete the shortlist.
MacGregor said: "We, the judges, are all genuinely thrilled and delighted by the final six books. Their depth and range is impressive.
"It's heartening for the future of non-fiction publishing that half the list is made up of books by first-time authors."
One-Minute World News 
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