Irish candidates Paul Murray for The Bee Sting, Elaine Feeney for How to Build a Boat, Sebastian Barry for Old God's Time, and Paul Lynch for Prophet Song make up a third of the longlist for the first time.

The Booker Prize is the most prestigious literary prize given to a single piece of fiction written in English and published in the UK. Entries published in the UK and Ireland between October 1, 2022, and September 30, 2023, are considered by the judges to be the greatest examples of long-form fiction.

The 'Booker Dozen' longlist of 13 novels was released today, and the shortlist of six books will be released on September 21.

37 Irish writers have been recognised by the Booker judges in the prize's history to date, making Ireland the country that has produced the most nominees relative to its population size.

The 2023 judging panel is led by novelist Esi Edugyan and includes Adjoa Andoh, an actor, writer, and director, Mary Jean Chan, a poet, lecturer, editor, and Shakespeare expert, James Shapiro, a professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, and actor and writer Robert Webb.

On November 26, there will be a ceremony in London when the winner of the £50,000 award will be revealed.