The Fortnum and Mason Food & Drink Awards, celebrate the very best in food and drink writing, publishing, broadcasting and photography since 2013. The winners, along with the Personality of the Year and Content Creator of the Year, voted for by the public, will be announced on Thursday 2nd May 2024. The shortlist and winners are selected by an independent panel of expert judges, chaired by Angela Hartnett OBE.

Mark Diacono started writing his new book, entitled ‘Abundance: A Year of Stories and Recipes from a Gardening Cook‘ in October last year. Written ‘live’ and photographed throughout the year, each chapter builds the picture of an abundant year. Nominated in the Food Writer category for the awards, ‘Abundance’ provides seasonally adaptable recipes that embellish the best of what the season offers both gardener and shopper.

“This is a huge deal – the F&Ms are really something, and for a Substack to make it into a category traditionally full of excellent columns and features in print media is a real moment. Of course, if you weren’t here subscribing it wouldn’t be happening – without you reading, I may as well scribble in my note book. So congratulations to you too – we are shortlisted and I couldn’t be more delighted” writes Diacono in his ‘the imperfect umbrella” newsletter.

“Being shortlisted out of everyone eligible is really the thing to celebrate – the winner might easily be any of those it has been whittled down to – so let’s raise a glass/coffee/smile. A huge thank you from me”, he added.

Here is the full shortlisting of all the categories.