Timed to coincide with International Women’s Day, the organizers of the prestigious UK-based Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction have announced the 20-book longlist of nominees.

In announcing the nominees, Chair of Judges Margaret Mountford commented, “We had a hugely enjoyable and stimulating meeting, as there were a great many strong novels in contention. We are delighted with the quality, the imaginative scope and the ambition of our chosen books, a longlist which reflects the judges’ interests and tastes. We hope readers will enjoy the variety of outstanding work on offer.”

Notably, more than half the books are debut novels, while four are by authors who have made the shortlist of six novels in the past. If some of the titles are unfamiliar to you, that is because they have only been released in the UK.

The shortlist will be announced on April 11, and the winner will be announced at an awards ceremony held in the Royal Festival Hall on June 8th.

The longlist:

  Kate Atkinson: A God in Ruins

  Shirley Barrett: Rush Oh!

  Cynthia Bond: Ruby

  Geraldine Brooks: The Secret Chord

  Becky Chambers: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet

  Jackie Copleton: A Dictionary of Mutual Understanding

  Rachel Elliott: Whispers Through a Megaphone

  Anne Enright: The Green Road

  Petina Gappah: The Book of Memory

  Vesna Goldsworthy: Gorsky

  Clio Gray: The Anatomist’s Dream

  Melissa Harrison: At Hawthorn Time

  Attica Locke: Pleasantville

  Lisa McInerney: The Glorious Heresies

  Elizabeth McKenzie: The Portable Veblen

  Sara Nović: Girl at War [see my review here]

  Julia Rochester: The House at the Edge of the World

  Hannah Rothschild: The Improbability of Love

  Elizabeth Strout: My Name is Lucy Barton

  Hanya Yanagihara: A Little Life