The Orange Prize for Fiction longlist has been announced. The list will be whittled down further on April 12th before the prize – along with a cheque for £30,000 and a bronze bust called Bessie – is handed over on June 8th. Those who have made the initial cut are:

Lyrics Alley by Leila Aboulela
Jamrach’s Menagerie by Carol Birch
Room by Emma Donoghue
The Pleasure Seekers by Tishani Doshi
Whatever You Love by Louise Doughty
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna
The London Train by Tessa Hadley
Grace Williams Says it Loud by Emma Henderson
The Seas by Samantha Hunt
The Birth of Love by Joanna Kavenna
Great House by Nicole Krauss
The Road to Wanting by Wendy Law-Yone
The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht
The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer
Repeat it Today with Tears by Anne Peile
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
The Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives by Lola Shoneyin
The Swimmer by Roma Tearne
Annabel by Kathleen Winter

Those given the task of picking a winner are:Bettany Hughes, broadcaster, historian and author; Liz Calder, founder-director of Bloomsbury Publishing and Full Circle Editions; Tracy Chevalier, novelist; Helen Lederer, actress and writer; and Susanna Reid, journalist and broadcaster.

It’s good to see such a diverse mix of nationalities and experience. Some of these are debut novels and there are quite a few I haven’t even heard of before – there are few awards lists you can say that about.