The longlist for the 2006 Man Booker Prize for Fiction was announced yesterday, with bookies already tipping British writer David Mitchell as the favourite to win with his rites-of-passage novel, 'Black Swan Green'.
Mitchell was last nominated two years ago for 'Cloud Atlas'.
Australian Peter Carey - who won in 1988 and 2001 - is also in the running with 'Theft: A Love Story' and Sarah Waters' 'The Night Watch' is another strong contender.
The longlist of 19 books was chosen from 112 entries; 95 were submitted for the prize and 17 were called in by the panel of judges.
The five-judging panel for the 2006 Man Booker Prize for Fiction includes Hermione Lee, Oxford professor of English literature; poet and novelist Simon Armitage; award winning novelist Candia McWilliam; critic Anthony Quinn and Irish actor Fiona Shaw.
Lee, the Chair of judges, said: "We have many regrets about some of the novels we've left off, and we could easily have had a longlist of about 30 books, but we’re delighted with the variety, the originality, the drama and craft, the human interest and the strong voices in this longlist."
The 2006 shortlist will be announced on Thursday 14 September and the winner will be announced on Tuesday 10 October at an awards ceremony in London.
The Irish writer John Banville was the winner of the 2005 Man Booker Prize for his novel, 'The Sea'.
Man Booker Prize for Fiction 2006 longlist:
Peter Carey - 'Theft: A Love Story'
Kiran Desai - 'The Inheritance of Loss'
Robert Edric - 'Gathering the Water'
Nadine Gordimer - 'Get a Life'
Kate Grenville - 'The Secret River'
MJ Hyland - 'Carry Me Down'
Howard Jacobson - 'Kalooki Nights'
James Lasdun - 'Seven Lies'
Mary Lawson - 'The Other Side of the Bridge'
Jon McGregor - 'So Many Ways to Begin'
Hisham Matar - 'In the Country of Men'
Claire Messud - 'The Emperor's Children'
David Mitchell - 'Black Swan Green'
Naeem Murr - 'The Perfect Man'
Andrew O'Hagan - 'Be Near Me'
James Robertson - 'The Testament of Gideon Mack'
Edward St Aubyn - 'Mother's Milk'
Barry Unsworth - 'The Ruby in Her Navel'
Sarah Waters - 'The Night Watch'
