The shortlist for the 2012 Toronto Book Awards has been announced. The annual awards, established by the Toronto City Council in 1974, recognize authors who evoke Toronto in works of literary and artistic merit.

The winning author receives $10,000, and the other nominees are awarded $1,000 each.

The judging panel for this year’s awards is comprised of Michael Booth, Julia Chan, Tina Edan, Diane Spivak, and Kristine Thornley. The shortlist, culled from 75 submissions, is as follows:

• Dave Bidini, Writing Gordon Lightfoot: The Man, the Music, and the World in 1972
  (McClelland & Stewart)
  
• Andrew J. Borkowski, Copernicus Avenue
  (Cormorant Books)
  
• Farzana Doctor, Six Metres of Pavement
  (Dundurn Press)
  
• Michele Landsberg, Writing the Revolution
  (Second Story Press)
  
• Suzanne Robertson, Paramita, Little Black
  (Guernica Editions)
  

An evening with the shortlisted writers will take place at the Yorkville branch of the Toronto Public Library on Oct. 3, and the winner will be announced at a gala on Oct. 11, to be held at the Toronto Reference Library.