Giles Foden, 35. The Last King of Scotland, 1998, Ladysmith, 2001, Zanzibar, 2002. A journalist with a feeling for historical and detailed narrative.

Alex Garland, 32. Blank-toned, modern 'Boys Own' adventure The Beach in 1996 made him a star, followed by the more literary The Tesseract in 1998. Now thought to be blocked, though he wrote the screenplay for the film 28 Days Later.

Maggie O'Farrell, 29. After You'd Gone, 2000, My Lover's Lover, 2002. An Orange prize nominee who writes dark novels about insecurity and relationships.

Niall Griffiths, 36. His debut novel Grits in 2000 was hailed as the new Trainspotting and he is much admired by Irvine Welsh. Other books are Sheepshagger , Kelly and Victor.

Patrick Neate, 32. A surprise Whitbread winner with his 2001 book Twelve Bar Blues.