Best New Blog:

This is our rookie of the year award. You’re in the running if your blog got started after August 1, 2008. It’s that simple.

Previous winners: 2008 – Follow the Yellow Brick Road; 2007 – Renter Girl

Best Writing on a Blog:

This category recognises some of the excellent writing people round here are publishing on their blogs. But your blog doesn’t have to be a ‘writer’s blog’ in order to qualify. It could be about anything; it’s the quality of the prose we’re interested in, not the subject matter.

Previous winners: 2008 – Every Day I Lie a Little; 2007 – Day of Moustaches

Best Arts and Culture Blog:

A blog that covers some aspect of cultural life or leisure in Manchester. So yes, that means art and music, but also food or sport.

Previous winners: 2008 – Northernights; 2007 – Mancubist; 2006 – Yer Mam!

Best Personal Blog:

If your blog is like your online journal, this is where you fit in.

Previous winners: 2008 – Travels with my baby; 2007 – Single Mother on the Verge; 2006 – A Free Man in Preston

Best City and Neighborhood Blog:

You’re a contender if you focus your bloggage on a particular locale, which could be a neighbourhood (i.e. Gorton), a wider area (South Manchester) or even the whole city of Manchester.

Previous winners: 2008 – Manchester Buses

Blog of the Year:

This category is a best-of-the-best, and is only open to winners of the above categories – you cannot nominate a blog in this category.

Previous winners: 2008 – Travels with my Baby; 2006 – The 43