British-Pakistani authors Mohsin Hamid and Kamila Shamsie were lauded with the honor of being nominated for the prestigious Man Booker prize.
Shamsie's Home Fire and Hamid's Exit West are among the 13 novels longlisted for the £50,000 award.
Hamid's second novel — The Reluctant Fundamentalist — was shortlisted for the award in 2007.
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness – penned by renowned author Arundhati Roy – has also been longlisted for the prize.
Roy won the award for her first novel, The God of Small Things -- published 20 years ago.
Not only their work but the contenders are also a diverse range of authors, with six women and seven men on the list. There are four UK, four US, two Irish, two British-Pakistani, and one Indian authors are longlisted for the award.
Chair of judges Baroness Lola Young shared that only when the judges surveyed the 13 remaining contenders that they realised the diversity of their list.
"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," said Young.
Young and her fellow judges will reread the longlist of 13 titles to come up with a shortlist of six, which will be announced on September 13. The winner will be announced on October 17.
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