Ali Shaw, who worked at the Bodleian Library before becoming a full-time writer, has been shortlisted for the £10,000 Desmond Elliot award for his first novel, The Girl With Glass Feet, a fantastical tale about a woman in a wintry island called St Hauda's Land who is slowly turning into glass. William Hill bookmakers named him 5/2 third favourite. The prize is intended “to enrich the careers of new writers”. The winner will be announced on June 23.