Bath writer in line for top award

Despite being an award-winning writer, Samantha is studying for a PhD in Bath

A Bath writer has been shortlisted for a national award after the release of her debut novel.

Samantha Harvey's book, The Wilderness, is one of five titles nominated for the £10,000 Guardian First Book Award.

This year she has already won the Betty Trask Prize for first-time young Commonwealth novelists.

Samantha was also shortlisted for the 2009 Orange Prize for Fiction and, most recently, longlisted for the 2009 Man Booker Prize for Fiction.

The Guardian First Book Award is for works of fiction or non-fiction by newcomers.

The shortlist was decided by a judging panel that included the novelist Tobias Hill, broadcaster Martha Kearney and Waterstone's reading groups in Bath, Oxford, London, Leeds and Edinburgh.

The Wilderness tells story of an architect in his sixties with Alzheimer's - as dementia takes hold, Jake Jameson cannot remember whether his daughter is alive or dead or why his son is in prison.

The winner of the Guardian First Book Award will be announced on Wednesday, 2 December 2009.

Samantha graduated from Bath Spa University in 2005 and is now studying there for a PhD.