Booker Prize Longlist 2012

Yesterday the longlisted titles for this year's Man Booker Prize were announced, the prize's 44th year.

A panel of judges, headed by chair Sir Peter Stothard of the Times Literary Supplement, selected the 12 novels, all the authors of which will receive £2,500 and compete for the final prize of £50,000.

This year's panel features Amanda Foreman, Dinah Birch, Dan Stevens of Downton Abbey fame and Bharat Tandon.

The 12 novels were chosen out of a staggering 145 other titles, so this is no mean feat by these longlisted authors.

The titles are listed on the Man Booker website as follows:

Nicola Barker, The Yips (Fourth Estate)
Ned Beauman, The Teleportation Accident (Sceptre)
André Brink, Philida (Harvill Secker)
Tan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening Mists (Myrmidon Books)
Michael Frayn, Skios (Faber & Faber)
Rachel Joyce, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Doubleday)
Deborah Levy, Swimming Home (And Other Stories)
Hilary Mantel, Bring up the Bodies (Fourth Estate)
Alison Moore, The Lighthouse (Salt)
Will Self, Umbrella (Bloomsbury)
Jeet Thayil, Narcopolis (Faber & Faber)
Sam Thompson, Communion Town (Fourth Estate)

Fourth Estate have an impressive four titles in the long list this year with Bloomsbury, who stole the show at the Orange Prize, has well-regarded Will Self and his latest novel, Umbrella. Rather more pleasingly, three small independent publishers and four debut novelists have been selected with only one previous winner, Hilary Mantel, whose sequel to Wolf Hall, Bringing Up the Bodies, seems to be following in the same vane.

The shortlist will halve this list yet again and will be announced on September 11th 2012, with the winner being awarded on 16th October, the ceremony for which will be broadcast by the BBC.

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