The shortlist for the 2013 ALS Gold Medal has been announced.

The shortlisted titles are:

• Darkness on the Edge of Town Jessie Cole (Fourth Estate)
• Questions of Travel Michelle de Kretser (Allen & Unwin)
• Montebello Robert Drewe (Hamish Hamilton)
• Lost Voices Christopher Koch (Fourth Estate)
• The Fine Colour of Rust P. A. O’Reilly (HarperCollins)

The ALS Gold Medal, one of the oldest literary prizes in Australia, is awarded annually for an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year.

The Medal was inaugurated by the Australian Literature Society, which was founded in Melbourne in 1899 and incorporated into the Association for the Study of Australian Literature in 1982.

The winner receives a gold medal. No nominations are required, though ASAL members are invited to propose potential winners to the judging panel.

The 2013 winner will be announced on July 3 at the ASAL annual conference in Wagga Wagga.