The Booker Prize Foundation announced its longlist for the 2017 prize on Wednesday. One of the most prestigious literary recognitions, the Man Booker Prize awards a writer £50,000. Formerly only available to writers in the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, Ireland, and Zimbabwe, it was opened in 2014 to anyone writing in English and published in the UK.

The thirteen books longlisted for the prize are:

4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster (US)
Days Without End by Sebastian Barry (Ireland)
History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund (US)
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (Pakistan-UK)
Solar Bones by Mike McCormack (Ireland)
Reservoir 13 by Jon McGregor (UK)
Elmet by Fiona Mozley (UK)
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy (India)
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (US)
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie (UK-Pakistan)
Autumn by Ali Smith (UK)
Swing Time by Zadie Smith (UK)
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (US)

An announcement of the six finalists will be made on September 13, and the winner will be announced on October 17. The five-judge panel that selected the longlist from over 150 entries includes: Chair, Baroness Lola Young; literary critic, Lila Azam Zanganeh; Man Booker Prize shortlisted novelist, Sarah Hall; artist, Tom Phillips CBE RA; and travel writer, Colin Thubron CBE.

As The Guardian reported, “With a split of four UK, four US, two Irish, two UK-Pakistani and one Indian writer; seven men to six women; three debuts; and three novels from independent presses, chair of judges Baroness Lola Young insisted that only when the judges surveyed the 13 remaining contenders that they realised the diversity of their list.”

Young went on to say, “The longlist showcases a diverse spectrum – not only of voices and literary styles but of protagonists too, in their culture, age and gender. Nevertheless we found there was a spirit common to all these novels: though their subject matter might be turbulent, their power and range were life-affirming – a tonic for our times.”