Claire Simpson

THREE Irish novelists have been long-listed for the Man Booker Prize, including a novel partly about Senator George Mitchell’s efforts to negotiate the Good Friday Agreement.

Dublin-born, New York-based writer Colum McCann has been nominated for TransAtlantic, his novel which spans 150 years of American and Irish history.

Previous nominee Colm Toibin is also in the running again for his work The Testament of Mary, a retelling of the story of the Virgin Mary following Christ’s crucifixion.

The Wexford-born writer was previously shortlisted in 1999 and again in 2004 for his novels The Blackwater Lightship and The Master.

Debut novelist Donal Ryan, from Tipperary, is also on the longlist.

His novel The Spinning Heart traces tensions in an Irish town following the Republic’s financial collapse.

A total of 13 novelists are contention for the £50,000 prize, which was won last year by Hilary Mantel for Bring Up The Bodies.

Writer Robert Macfarlane, who chaired the judging panel, said: “This is surely the most diverse longlist in Man Booker history – wonderfully various in terms of geography, form, length and subject. These 13 outstanding novels range from the traditional to the experimental, from the first century AD to the present day, from 100 pages to 1,000 and from Shanghai to Hendon.”

A shortlist of six books will be announced in September with the winner named at a ceremony at the Guildhall in London on October 15.

n noveliStS: From left, Colm Toibin, Donal Ryan and Colum McCann, have been added to the long-list for this year’s Man Booker literary prize

the full longliSt:

Tash Aw Five Star Billionaire NoViolet Bulawayo We Need New Names Eleanor Catton The Luminaries Jim Crace Harvest Eve Harris The Marrying of Chain Kaufman Richard House The Kills Jhumpa Lahiri The Lowland Alison MacLeod Unexploded Colum McCann Transatlantic Charlotte Mendelson Almost English Ruth Ozeki A Tale for the Time Being Donal Ryan The Spinning Heart Colm Toibin The Testament of Mary