Kate announced the shortlist for this year’s Manchester Blog Awards earlier today:

We had 107 separate nominations this year, coming in from as far away as San Francisco. There was such a wealth of great stuff that it was harder than ever to do the shortlisting, particularly in the Best Writing on a Blog category (by far our most nominated-for).

Best New Blog:

Dear Kitty
Coco LaVerne
Follow The Yellow Brick Road
14sandwiches

Best Writing on a Blog:

Diary of a Bluestocking
Every day I lie a little
Nine chains to the moon
Chicken and Pies

Best Arts and Culture Blog:

Scatterdrum
Quit This Pampered Town
Northernnights
Max Dunbar

Best Personal Blog:

Travels with my baby
Single Mother on the Verge
Follow the Yellow Brick Road
40three

Best Neighbourhood Blog:

Hyde Daily Photo
Mancubist
Lady Levenshulme
Manchester Bus

There are plenty of good blogs in the shortlist – and loads of new names too, which is obviously great to see. I’ll be checking out my competition in the new neighbourhood category over the next couple of days… (thanks for the nomination).

Judges this year are the MEN’s online editor Sarah Hartley, MDDA’s Dave Carter and Chris Killen, who writes Days of Moustaches and runs No Point in Not Being Friends.

The Manchester Blog Awards event takes place on Wednesday 22 October, again at Matt & Phred’s on Tib Street. If you like music and literature with just a hint of geekdom, do come down.