Longlist announced for the Author's Club Dolman Travel Book Award

The nine books in line for the £2,500 prize for literary travel writing were revealed this morning

The titles are: Harlem is Nowhere, Sharifa Rhodes-Pitts (Granta); On Extinction,  Melanie Challenger (Granta); Street Fight in Naples, Peter Robb (Bloomsbury); The Fetish Room: The Education of a Naturalist, Redmond O’Hanlon (Profile); Thin Paths: Journeys in and around an Italian Village, Julia Blackburn (Jonathan Cape); To a Mountain in Tibet, Colin Thubron (Vintage); To the River: A Journey Beneath the Surface, Olivia Laing (Canongate); White Fever, Jacek Hugo-Bader (Portobello), and Wild Coast, John Gimlette (Profile Books).

Tony Wheeler, the chair of judges, said: 'We have produced a very interesting long list, with well known writers (Colin Thubron and Redmond O’Hanlon) and first timers, cities (New York’s Harlem and Naples) and country. Personally I’m pleased to see there are so many walking books (A Mountain in Tibet and Thin Paths) and that we’ve ventured into some little known (or little written about) corners of the world, Wild Coast is certainly introducing me to those three South American Guianas.'

Founded in 2006, the Dolman Prize is given to travel writers whose books show literary merit in the grand tradition of travel writing. The shortlist for this year's award will be announced in August, and the winner will be presented with the £2,500 prize on 5 September.

Website: http://dolmanprize.wordpress.com