The longlist for the Man Booker Prize, Britain's most prestigious literary award, is out and just over half of those commended are female writers.

Seven out of the 13 books in the list are by women, a welcome change compared to three in 2014.

The nominations also feature authors from seven different countries due to the competition being open to writers of any nationality who publish books in English in the UK, for a second year running.

Three British writers made the final 13, alongside four from the USA and one from Ireland, Jamaica, Nigeria, India and New Zealand.

It includes former winner Anne Enright and three debut novelists: Bill Clegg, Chigozie Obioma and Anna Smaill.

The biggest surprise was that Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird sequel Go Set A Watchman didn't make the list.

The longlist was selected from 156 books by a panel of five judges chaired by Michael Wood including Ellah Wakatama Allfrey, John Burnside, Sam Leith and Frances Osborne.

“We had a great time choosing this list," said Wood. "Discussions weren’t always peaceful, but they were always very friendly. We were lucky in our companions and the submissions were extraordinary.

First awarded in 1969, the prize is recognised as the leading prize for high quality literary fiction written in English. Its list of winners features many literary giants from Salman Rushdie to Hilary Mantel, Iris Murdoch to Ian McEwan.

The selection will be whittled down to a shortlist of six books on 15 September and the overall winner will be announced at a ceremony in London on 13 October, where they'll win the grand prize of £50,000.

For now though, make sure you've read the full list below.

The Man Booker Dozen: how many have you read?