The Wellcome Trust has just announced the first ever shortlist for its new literary prize, celebrating "medicine in literature". Jo Brand will chair the panel of judges, which includes the doctor-turned-polymath Raymond Tallis and the BBC science journalist Quentin Cooper. The shortlist is as follows:

Havi Carel, Illness

Brian Dillon, Tormented Hope (read John O'Connell's review in this week's magazine)

Andrea Gillies, Keeper

Allegra Goodman, Intuition

Jonny Steinberg, Three Letter Plague

Abraham Verghese, Cutting For Stone

The winner of the £25,000 prize will be announced on 4 November.