The longlist for the prestigious, U.K.-based Booker Prize was announced today and the selections surprised book award watchers. While a few books were well-known, many were more obscure, at least to those outside the U.K., because so far they have only been published by small British presses or will be published in August or September, in time to make the 2022 awards cutoff date. The chatter on “bookstagram” is a combination of “I’ve never heard of most of these books” and “I can’t believe (choose a popular/critically acclaimed book) didn’t make it.”

From the longlist of 13 books, the judges will choose a shortlist of six finalists on September 6, with the winner being announced on October 17.

The Colony by Audrey Magee

After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz

Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

Nightcrawling by Leila Mottley

Maps of our Spectacular Bodies by Maddie Mortimer

Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet

Treacle Walker by Alan Garner

The Trees by Percival Everett

Trust by Hernan Diaz

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout

Booth by Karen Joy Fowler

The list features three debuts (Mortimer, Mottley, Schwartz), the youngest and oldest authors to be nominated (Mottley, 19, and Garner, 88), the shortest book ever nominated (Small Things Like These at 116 pages), and two unusual narrators (a chorus of animals in Glory, cancer in parts of Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies).

You can learn about each of the longlist selections here: https://thebookerprizes.com/.