Curious Whitbread favourite

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Literary sensation The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time is the hot favourite to be named Whitbread Book Of The Year - in fact it is one of the most heavily backed favourites in the award's history.

Tomorrow night one of five brilliant works will be hailed book of the year at one of literary London's most anticipated events. A judging panel including Bill Bryson, Ralph Fiennes, Evening Standard columnist Tim Lott and Liza Tarbuck will choose the winning author who - as well as a £25,000 cheque - can expect a huge boost in their book's sales.

Unlike the Man Booker prize, which dedicates itself exclusively to works of fiction, the Whitbread Book Of The Year is drawn from across the literary spectrum.

The ultimate winner will be chosen from five victors, already announced, in the Whitbread's different categories of prizes.

The strong favourite is already the most talked-about work of fiction of the year. Best novel winner Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time has, thanks mostly to word-of-mouth, sold astonishingly-well and been mooted as the first literary classic of the 21st century. According to the bookies it is 11-8 to win the ultimate Whitbread Prize.

Controversial Man Booker winner DBC Pierre - whose made-up initials stand for "Dirty But Clean" - is in the running thanks to best first novel winner Vernon God Little, a hilarious, frighteningly believable satire. Pierre is second favourite at 11/4.

Poetry is represented by Don Paterson, who might just emerge as the shock winner thanks to his collection Landing Light. Paterson this month won the nation's most important poetry award, the TS Eliot Prize, and the bookies have him at 9/2. DJ Taylor's biography of George Orwell is at 5/1, the same odds as best children's book The Fire-Eaters by David Almond.

No author would be crass enough to predict their own victory but almost every author is happy to talk about their work. Here, this year's Whitbread contenders do just that.

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