We’re delighted to announce this year’s blog awards shortlist. It was a very competitive year, with 436 blogs in the running. But we reckon these blogs listed below are the best of the best. For each category we’ve chosen a shortlist of five blogs and two ‘commended’ blogs, which didn’t make the shortlist but which we thought good enough to merit special mention. Good luck to everyone on the shortlist, and don’t forget to vote! Public voting closes on 4 October, and your votes will then be tallied together with the votes of our judging panel to determine the winners.

BEST ARTS AND CULTURE BLOG

• Hope Lies at 24 Frames Per Second
• Cultural Shenanigans
• A Negative Narrative
• Fontilan
• Sonnet Reviews

Commended:

• Alternative Barnsley
• Made UP: On Stage in Liverpool

BEST CITY OR NEIGHBOURHOOD BLOG

• South Leeds Life
• Unicycle Emptiness
• Sevenstreets
• A Sense of Place
• One & Other York

Commended:

• Mancunian Wave
• Didn’tsbury

BEST FOOD AND DRINK BLOG

• Northern Food
• Squidbeak
• Offally Good
• Around the World in Eighty Bakes
• Little Red Courgette

Commended:

• Newcastle Eats
• Mangechester

BEST PERSONAL BLOG

• A Different View
• I never knew you were such a monster
• The Guilt Edged Bride
• Her First Year
• What Red Said

Commended:

• Get Ivan Out
• Margot and Barbara

BEST SPECIALIST BLOG

• All My Own Work!
• Secondhand Safari
• A New Band a Day
• The Magic Square Foundation
• Fontilan

Commended:

• Our Hause
• Miss Thrifty

BEST WRITING

• Tiffers At: Otherwise I’ll Forget
• The Most Difficult Thing Ever
• July 2061
• Her First Year
• I never knew you were such a monster

Commended:

• Sonnet Reviews
• A Fine Lung

BEST YOUNG BLOGGER

• Considerate Trespassing
• Celluloid Wickerman
• Every Second Song
• Maddy Pelling
• Life in the Wendy House

Commended:

• The Rest is Propaganda
• The Mouthpiece