One of the most lucrative international literary awards announced the longlist of 147 books today.

The International Dublin Literary Award is unique in that it accepts nominations only from libraries in major cities around the world. For the current award (to be announced on June 21, 2017, with the shortlist due on April 11), a book must have been published during 2015. The nomination process is delayed for nearly a year to allow sufficient time for books to reach their audience among library patrons.

The 2017 nominees include such acclaimed works by women as A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson, The Turner House by Angela Flournoy, A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, The Mare by Mary Gaitskill, The Star Side of Bird Hill by Naomi Jackson, Black River by S.M. Hulse, Golden Age by Jane Smiley, Girl at War by Sara Novic, Orhan’s Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian, Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum, and The Natural Way of Things by Charlotte Wood.

The complete list of nominees is here.

The winner receives a prize of €100,000; if it is a work in translation, the author receives €75,000 and the translator €25,000.

Only two women have won the IDLA in its 20-year history: Nicola Barker in 2000 (for Wide Open) and Herta Muller in 1998 (for The Land of Green Plums). Perhaps 2017’s winner will begin to remedy this inexplicable imbalance.