The Irish writer Ronan Bennett has made the shortlist for the Whitbread Novel Award with The Catastrophist, set in the Congo during the 1960s political riots. It's welcome official recognition for a writer who has had to cope with being "controversial" for 25 years, since he was found guilty of shooting a policeman in Belfast by a Diplock Court. He was cleared of the charge and released, and has always maintained that though he is a nationalist, he has never been an IRA member. Despite this, he was banned by the Speaker of the House of Commons, in 1987, from working in parliament, although he had been appointed by Labour MP, Jeremy Corbyn, as a research assistant, and David Trimble condemned his TV play for the BBC, Love Lies Bleeding, in parliament.

The other short-listed novels are Leading the Cheers by Justin Cartwright and The Travelling Hornblower by Barbara Trapido. In other categories, works of particular interest - and favourites - have to be Iris, a memoir of Iris Murdoch by John Bayley for biography, and Birthday Letters by Ted Hughes for poetry, two exceptionally fine evocations of the power of love.

Award winners in the categories will be announced on January 13th, and the Whitbread Book of the Year winner's name will be announced on January 26th. Both award ceremonies will be televised by BBC.