The four titles shortlisted for this year's Walkley award for nonfiction are:

• The Great War (Les Carlyon, Picador)
• People in Glass Houses (Tanya Levin, Black Inc.)
• Jonestown (Chris Masters, Allen & Unwin)
• Detainee 002 (Leigh Sales, MUP)

Thanks to sponsorship from Copyright Agency Limited (CAL), this year's winner will receive the opportunity to attend the prestigious three-day Nieman Narrative Conference at Harvard University, Boston, next March. CAL chair Brian Johns says attendance at the conference will provide the winner with a unique professional development opportunity to hone their skills. ‘This conference recognises that the ability to deliver well-written narrative remains vital to traditional journalism in the digital era,' he said.

The winner will be announced at the Walkley Awards Gala Ceremony on Thursday 29 November, which will also be televised on SBS.