COLM TÓIBÍN, Colum McCann and début novelist Donal Ryan have been named on this years 13-strong Man Booker Prize longlist.
Tipperary author Ryan joins the two literary heavyweights for his examination of the impacts of recession in Ireland in The Spinning Heart.
McCann has been longlisted for his National Book Award winning TransAtlantic, while Enniscorthy-born Tóibín made this years list for The Testament Of Mary.
Tóibín has previously been shortlisted with The Blackwater Lightship (1999) and The Master (2004).
British novelist Jim Crace - who along with Tóibín is the only other author this year that has previously made the Man Booker shortlist - is the favourite to win this years £50,000 prize after publishing his novel Harvest.
Writer Robert MacFarlane who chaired this year’s judging panel said of the selection process, “this is surely the most diverse longlist in Man Booker history, these 13 outstanding novels range from the traditional to the experimental.”
The panel also included Martha Kearney, Stuart Kelly, Natalie Haynes and Robert Douglas-Fairhurst.
151 entries were evaluated and a longlist of 13 novels was selected, representing both established and new authors from seven different countries. Eight of the authors are female and three are début novelists.
A shortlist of six books will be announced in September, and the winner will be named in a ceremony on Tuesday October 15 at the Guildhall in London.
