After whittling down 5,000 nominations from across the globe - more than double than last year -  the shortlists for this year’s Saboteur awards have finally been announced. Featuring strong LGBT, artists of colour and female representation, the breadth of nominations demonstrates the richness and vibrancy currently storming the indie literature sector.

For Best Spoken Word Performer, contenders are Tyrone Lewis, Esi Yankey, Amina Bhatti, Shruti Chauhan and Susan Evans.

Nominated for Best Spoken Word Show are This Is Not A Safe Space by Jackie Hagan, Sexy by Vanessa Kisuule, Above the Mealy-Mouthed Sea by Jemima Foxtrot, Hopeless by Leyla Josephine and Doctor Zeeman's Catastrophe Machine by Martin Figura.

The shortlist for Best Poetry Pamphlet are Paisley by Rizwan Rakhshan (The Emma Press);
Rice & Rain by Romalyn Ante (V. Press); Somewhere Between Rose and Black by Claire Walker (V. Press); Anima by Ana Prundaru (Dancing Girl Press);  and A Bargain with the Light: Poems after Lee Miller by Jacqueline Saphra (Hercules Editions).

Contenders for Best Regular Poetry Night are Fire and Dust (Coventry); Mind Over Matter (London); Verbose (Manchester); Find the Right Words (Leicester); and Cafe Del Nino's Spoken Word Night (Cannock).

Up for for Best Short Story Collection are You Will Grow Into Them by Malcolm Devlin (Unsung Stories); Hings by Chris McQueer (404 Ink); Bank Holiday Hurricane by Kelly Creighton (Dorie Press); Come Let Us Sing Anyway by Leone Ross (Peepal Tree Press); and 15 Minutes by Erinna Mettler (Unbound).

Nominations for Best Novella are Seed by Joanna Walsh (Visual Editions); How to Make A Window Snake by Charmaine Wilkerson (Bath Flash Fiction Award); The Reactive by Masande Ntshanga (Jacaranda Books); Dead Dogs & Angels by Mickela Sonola (Holland House Books); and Tumours by Chay Collins (Ampersand Publishing).

Most Innovative Press nominations are Sidekick Books, Burning Eye Books, Indigo Dreams, 404 ink and Bad Betty Press.

Shortlisted for Best Reviewer are Jade Cuttle, Charlie Baylis, Dave Coates, Joey Connolly and
Sandeep Parmar.

Up for Best Magazine are Riggwelter Press, Confingo, Strix, Into the Void Magazine and The Journal.

For Best Collaboration the nominations are The Black Flamingo by Dean Atta and Ben Connors, Inheritance by Ruth Stacey and Katy Wareham Morris, The Ambassador's Reception by Interrobang!? and Poetry AF, Heelster-Gowdie by Stuart A. Paterson and Marcas Mac an Tuairneir and Experimental Words by Dan Simpson and Dr Sam Illingworth.

Nominations for Best Anthology are Aquanauts (Sidekick Books); #MeToo - A Women's Poetry Anthology, edited by Deborah Alma (Fair Acre Press); Stairs and Whispers: D/deaf and Disabled Poets Write Back, edited by Sandra Alland, Khairani Barokka and Daniel Sluman (Nine Arches Press); Please Hear What I'm Not Saying: A Poetry Collaboration for Mind, edited by Isabelle Kenyon and A Portrait in Blues, edited by Jay Dodd (Platypus Press).

The Wildcard shortlist is Affleck's Creative Space (run by Write Out Loud's own Joy France, pictured) Poetry Prescribed, #Women AloudNI 2018, I am not a silent poet and Yours Faithfully, Edna Welthorpe.

What started out in 2010 as a "whim against mainstream awards" according to its founder Claire Trévien, now showcases - as we can see - some of the best experimental and independent talent in town.

The awards will take place at Theatre Delicatessen on 19th May 2018, and with a line up featuring artists such as Hera Lindsay Bird and Scherezade Siobhan, it’s set to be a night of celebrations not to be missed.

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