Booker longlist boost for first-time novelistsFive first novels are in the running for this year's Man Booker prize Booker Prize, an annual prize of £50,000 (originally £20,000) for a work of fiction by a living British, Irish, or Commonwealth writer. Great Britain's premier literary award, it has been underwritten since 1969 by the British food-distribution company , making it onto a longlist that has passed over many big names in favour of an eclectic selection encompassing small presses, humour and thrillers. Salman Rushdie Noun 1. Salman Rushdie - British writer of novels who was born in India; one of his novels is regarded as blasphemous by Muslims and a fatwa was issued condemning him to death (born in 1947) Ahmed Salman Rushdie, Rushdie (The Enchantress of Florence), Amitav Ghosh For the banker, see Amitav Ghosh (banker). Amitav Ghosh (born 1956), is an Indian-Bengali author and literary critic known for his work in the English language. Ghosh was born in Calcutta. (Sea of Poppies) and Philip Hensher (The Northern Clemency Leniency or mercy. A power given to a public official, such as a governor or the president, to in some way lower or moderate the harshness of punishment imposed upon a prisoner. Clemency is considered to be an act of grace. ) head up the big hitters in a 13-strong list that ignores some of the predicted favourites, including Tim Winton, Peter Carey, Damon Galgut and John Burnside. Instead, Tom Rob Smith - in the running with Child 44, his debut detective thriller set in Soviet Russia - is joined on the list by another debut, although arguably a more traditional Booker choice - The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga. Adiga, who is Times magazine's Asia correspondent, exposes the underbelly of India's new Tiger economy. The story is told through the letters of Balram who escapes the poverty of rural India to become a rich businessman in Delhi, but has committed a murder to reach his place in the "new" India. Small press Tindal Street, which garnered attention when it reached the longlist last year with Catherine O'Flynn's What Was Lost, is in the spotlight again this year with Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold, an historical romance based around the marriage of a famous Victorian novelist, Alfred Gibson. An exceptionally confident debut by an Australian writer, Steve Toltz, is likely to be a favourite to go to the next round. A massive 700-page episodic novel, A Fraction of the Whole is a narrative rollercoaster of a book, skipping from anecdote to incident to twist as a father rants and reflects his way to making a confession to his son. Fellow Australian Michelle de Kretser joins him with The Lost Dog, her third and highly acclaimed novel which takes the mystery of a missing pet as the starting point for a richly multi-layered story that crosses continents and generations. Both Toltz and de Kretser, along with Tom Rob Smith, were selected as "Hay 21" authors at this year's Guardian Hay festival in a celebration of promising new talent. Pakistani journalist Mohammed Hanif also makes it onto the longlist with A Case of Exploding Mangoes, an exuberant exploration of the death of General Muhammad Zia ul-Haq, president of Pakistan The President of Pakistan (Urdū: صدر مملکت Sadr-e-Mamlikat) is Head of State of Pakistan. Pakistan has a semi-presidential system of government. from 1978 to 1988. The book is set in the days before the crash that killed him - one of Pakistan's enduring mysteries - and uses satirical humour to build conspiracy theory upon conspiracy theory. Described by Sean O'Hagan in the Guardian as a "masterpiece", Joseph O'Neill's post-9/11 novel Netherland, his third work, has made the longlist and is likely to be a frontrunner for the shortlist short·list also short-list n. A list of preferable items or candidates that have been selected for final consideration, as in making an award or filling a position. Noun 1. . Also in the running are The Secret Scripture by the previously shortlisted Irish writer Sebastian Barry; From A to X by John Berger, who won the prize in 1972; and The Clothes on Their Backs by Orange prize-winner Linda Grant. According to the chair of judges, Michael Portillo, "The list covers an extraordinary variety of writing. Still two qualities emerge this year: large scale narrative and the striking use of humour." The former Conservative MP and cabinet minister was joined on the judging panel by Alex Clark, editor of Granta; Louise Doughty, novelist; James Heneage, founder of Ottakar's bookshops; and TV and radio broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli Hardeep Singh Kohli (born 1969) is a Sikh writer, presenter, broadcaster and reporter of Indian descent from Scotland and working in the United Kingdom. Biography . The shortlist will be announced on September 9 and the winner will be announced on October 14 at an awards ceremony at Guildhall, London. The longlist in full The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga (Atlantic) Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold (Tindal Street Press Tindal Street Press is a Birmingham-based independent publisher of contemporary fiction, with a particular focus on writers born, or living, in Birmingham and the West Midlands. ) The Secret Scripture by Sebastian Barry (Faber and Faber Faber and Faber, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. ) From A to X by John Berger (Verso ver·so n. pl. ver·sos 1. A left-hand page of a book or the reverse side of a leaf, as opposed to the recto. 2. The back of a coin or medal. ) The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser (Chatto & Windus) Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh (John Murray) The Clothes on Their Backs by Linda Grant (Virago) The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher (Fourth Estate) Netherland by Joseph O'Neill (Fourth Estate) The Enchantress of Florence by Salman Rushdie (Jonathan Cape) Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith (Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster U.S. publishing company. It was founded in 1924 by Richard L. Simon (1899–1960) and M. Lincoln Schuster (1897–1970), whose initial project, the original crossword-puzzle book, was a best-seller. ) A Fraction of the Whole by Steve Toltz (Hamish Hamilton) 
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