The 2016 Man Booker Prize longlist is here, and this year’s selection of 13 novels is roughly half men (seven) and half women (six). Although the prize was historically limited to authors from the U.K, the Commonwealth, Ireland and Zimbabwe, 2016 is the third year it is open to anyone writing in English and published in the U.K. The longlist includes five American writers, the same number as last year.
On the list is author J.M. Coetzee, who has won the Man Booker Prize twice before, once in 1983 for his novel Life & Times of Michael K and again in 1999 with the novel Disgrace. Other longlisters include Deborah Levy, who was previously shortlisted for the prize, and A.L. Kennedy, a prize judge in 1996. The list also includes four debut novels: Hystopia by David Means, The Many by Wyl Menmuir, Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh and Work Like Any Other by Virginia Reeves.
Paul Beatty (US) – The Sellout
J.M. Coetzee (South African-Australian) – The Schooldays of Jesus
A.L. Kennedy (UK) – Serious Sweet
Deborah Levy (UK) – Hot Milk
Graeme Macrae Burnet (UK) – His Bloody Project
Ian McGuire (UK) – The North Water
David Means (US) – Hystopia
Wyl Menmuir (UK) – The Many
Ottessa Moshfegh (US) – Eileen
Virginia Reeves (US) – Work Like Any Other
Elizabeth Strout (US) – My Name Is Lucy Barton
David Szalay (Canada-UK) – All That Man Is
Madeleine Thien (Canada) – Do Not Say We Have Nothing
The shortlist of six books will be announced Sept. 13 and the winner will be announced Oct. 25. Shortlisted authors will each receive £2,500 and the winner will get an additional £50,000.
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Write to Mahita Gajanan at mahita.gajanan@time.com