The shortlist has been selected for the £5,000 (about $5,915) Gordon Burn Prize, recognizing "the year's boldest and most innovative fiction and nonfiction." In addition to the cash prize, the winner, who will be named October 13 at the Durham Book Festival, has the chance to undertake a three-month retreat at Gordon Burn's cottage in the Scottish Borders. This year's shortlisted titles are:
About a Son by David Whitehouse
Aftermath by Preti Taneja
Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet
Constructing a Nervous System by Margo Jefferson
Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi