Graphic Scotland has announced the shortlist for the inaugural 9th Art Award, which recognizes the year's best English-language graphic novel:

• Building Stories, by Chris Ware (Jonathan Cape)
• Days of the Bagnold Summer, by Joff Winterhart (Jonathan Cape)
• The Gigantic Beard That Was Evil, by Stephen Collins (Jonathan Cape)
• Naming Monsters, by Hannah Eaton (Myriad Editions)
• The Nao of Brown, by Glyn Dillon (SelfMadeHero)

“The shortlist for the first 9th Art Award shows the strength and diversity of graphic literature," 9th Art Director Gordon Robertson wrote. "A list made up of five books that will each go on to become classics in their own right; any one would be a worthy winner of the prize.”

The winner will be presented during a ceremony held Sunday at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.