Meet the Author: Ali Smith
The Costa Book of the Year Award, worth £30,000 to the winning author, will be presented next week.
One of the UK's oldest and richest literary prizes, it has been going since 1971.
There are five categories; best novel, first novel, children's book, poetry book and biography of the year.
Ali Smith, whose book 'How to be both' borrows from the techniques of fresco painting - focuses on the lives of a grieving teenage girl in the present day and a renaissance artist in the 1460s.
Nick Higham takes a look at the book, which won the best novel award.
More interviews from the Meet The Author series.