The Man Booker prize includes American nominees for first time
Karen Joy Fowler and Richard Powers are among 13 names on longlist
Among the British heavyweight writers on the list announced today are Howard Jacobson (pictured above), David Mitchell and Ali Smith – who will compete for the Man Booker prize in its first time as a global literary award, along with David Nicholls, writer of the bestsellers Starter for Ten and One Day.
Thirteen novels were named, which usually – and for more than 40 years – has rewarded only Commonwealth and Irish writers. However the rules changed last year, sparking some fears that it would become dominated by Americans.
It transpires that judges chose four Americans: Joshua Ferris, Siri Hustvedt, Karen Joy Fowler and Richard Powers. This year's Chair, philosopher AC Grayling, said it had been a vintage year:
"They are very ambitious books and some of them tackle big issues of the day," he said. "There's a lot of perceptiveness and wisdom in these books, some of them are quite moving and all of them are very difficult to put down once you get into them – a feature of just how richly textured they are and what great stories they tell."
The winner will be announced in September.
