as one of their Mental Health Books of the Decade. It was also longlisted for the Rathbones Folio Prize. Filer has been awarded the honorary degree of Master of Letters from the University of the West of England and the honorary degree of Doctor of Liberal Arts from Abertay University. These degrees were conferred in recognition of his role in raising awareness through literature and his commitment to mental health care. He holds a master's degree in Creative Writing from Bath Spa University, where he is a Reader and Senior Lecturer. Books The Shock of the Fall (HarperFiction, 2013; The Borough Press, 2014) The Heartland (also published as This Book will Change Your Mind about Mental Health ) (Faber, 2019) Awards and honours 2013 Costa Book Awards First Novel Award for The Shock of the Fall 2013 Costa Book Awards Book of the Year for The Shock of the Fall 2014 Betty Trask Prize winner for The Shock of the Fall 2014 Specsavers National Book Awards Popular Fiction Book of the Year for The Shock of the Fall 2014 Writers' Guild of Great Britain (WGGB Awards) Best First Novel for The Shock of the Fall 2015 Honorary Degree of Master of Letters from the University of the West of England 2015 Honorary Doctorate of Liberal Arts from Abertay University 2017 Mind Media Awards Radio Category shortlisted for The Mind in the Media 2020 Rathbones Folio Prize longlist for The Heartland References External links Nathan Filer website British writers Academics of Bath Spa University Psychiatric nurses Living people Year of birth missing (living people)