Judging line-up ready to read best new East Anglian books after July 31 deadline

Today we can reveal the judges for this year's EDP-Jarrold East Anglian Book Awards, which now boasts a £1,000 top prize.

The annual awards' submission deadline is July 31.

Supported by Writers' Centre Norwich and the University of East Anglia's Faculty of the Arts and Humanities, the awards celebrate the best new writing from Norfolk, Suffolk and Fenland. In their sixth year the establishment of the new prize fund establishes the awards among Britain's leading regional literary prizes.

The £1,000 will go to the East Anglian Book of the Year which will be selected from the winning titles in a new set of six categories.

An impressive selection of judges with East Anglian literary connections is in place to read this year's entries. The line-up comprises:

Ion Trewin, administrator of the Man Booker prize for Fiction and a long-time resident of west Norfolk;

Renowned Norfolk-based nature writer and biographer Mark Cocker, whose major work Birds and People will be published next month;

Michael Mackmin, Aylsham-based editor of The Rialto, a highly respected poetry magazine;

BJ Epstein, lecturer in literature and translation at the University of East Anglia, whose specialisms include children's literature;

Jennifer Holland, head of Norfolk's Library and Information Service, which runs Britain's best-used library, the Millennium Library in Norwich;

John Alban, who has recently retired as county archivist after 16 years at the helm of the Norfolk Record Office.

To qualify for any of the East Anglian Book Awards' categories, works must be set wholly or largely in East Anglia – or be written by an author living in the region, which for the awards' purposes is defined as the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk, and the area of Fenland District Council.

Books must have been published for the first time between August 1, 2012 and July 31 this year. The categories are:

Fiction: for novels and short stories set in or written by someone from Norfolk, Suffolk and Fenland – judged by Ion Trewin.

Poetry: for collections and pamphlets of poems set in or written by someone from the coverage area – judged by Michael Mackmin.

Biography and memoir: for books telling people's life stories or experiences – judged by Mark Cocker.

History and tradition: for histories and studies of local heritage – judged by John Alban.

General non-fiction: for books of landscape writing, art and photographic studies, nature writing, travel writing and guidebooks, and other miscellaneous subjects – judged by Jennifer Holland.

Children's books: for stories aimed at readers aged below 18, either set in or written by someone from the coverage area – judged by BJ Epstein.

In the autumn a shortlist will be unveiled. The winners will be revealed in November at this year's East Anglian Book Awards evening in Norwich, which will feature a reading from a high-profile author, the awards ceremony and a meal.

Last November 120 people gathered at the Assembly House to learn the winners of the 2012 awards. Novelist and poet Sophie Hannah read from her work before presenting the prizes to the winners and announcing the East Anglian Book of the Year as The Last Hunters by Candy Whittome and David Morris (Full Circle Editions).

The awards are organised as a collaboration between the Eastern Daily Press, Jarrold's department store, and the literature development organisation Writers' Centre Norwich.

To enter the EDP-Jarrold East Anglian Book Awards, send two copies of the book to the Eastern Daily Press, Prospect House, Rouen Road, Norwich NR1 1RE, marking the package East Anglian Book Awards and including a covering letter stating your contact details and which category you are entering, to arrive by July 31. For more information about the awards, email eastanglianbookawards@gmail.com