The <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/books/the-booker-shortlist-2017-who-ll-be-on-it-1.627345">Man Booker prize</a> longlist has been announced and includes – for the first time – a graphic novel. Nick Drnaso’s Sabrina, which tells the story of a missing girl in the age of 24-hour news, is one of 13 titles competing for the £50,000 (Dh240,800) prize. "Given the changing shape of fiction, it was only a matter of time before a graphic novel was included on the Man Booker [prize] longlist," the judges said. "<em>Sabrina </em>makes demands on the reader in precisely the way all good fiction does." A number of big-name authors, including <a href="https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/book-review-julian-barnes-s-brilliant-recreation-of-the-life-and-trials-of-dmitri-shostakovich-1.215305?videoId=5719243807001">Julian Barnes</a>, Peter Carey and Alan Hollinghurst, have been overlooked in favour of stylistically experimental novels such as poet Robin Robertson's debut <em>The Long Take</em>, which mixes verse and prose, and Esi Edugyan's <em>Washington Black</em>, which the judges described as "extremely imaginative". Three other debut novels – <em>The Water Cure </em>by Sophie Mackintosh; <em>In Our Mad and Furious City</em> by Guy Gunaratne; and <em>Everything Under </em>by Daisy Johnson – also made the list. At 27, Johnson is the joint youngest author on the list, alongside <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/may/24/sally-rooney-conversations-with-friends-interview-salinger-snapchat-generation">Sally Rooney, who wrote Normal People</a>, a "very intimate character study of two young people trying to figure out how to love each other". Michael Ondaatje is the only previous winner to have made the list. <em>Warlight</em>, Ondaatje's seventh novel, follows two siblings abandoned by their parents in the aftermath of the Second World War. It was described by the judges as "wonderfully atmospheric, beautifully paced, subtle storytelling". Chair of the judges Kwame Anthony Appiah said: “All of these books – which take in slavery, ecology, missing persons, inner-city violence, young love, prisons, trauma, race – capture something about a world on the brink. <strong>________________________</strong> <strong>Read more:</strong> <strong><a href="https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/books/the-nyuad-project-that-is-digitising-arabic-books-for-all-to-access-1.753285">The NYUAD project that is digitising Arabic books for all to access</a></strong> <strong><a href="https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/books/in-the-the-great-derangement-amitav-ghosh-urges-us-to-confront-climate-change-1.752619">In the 'The Great Derangement' Amitav Ghosh urges us to confront climate change</a></strong> <strong><a href="https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/books/refreshing-reads-for-summer-2018-1.751000">Refreshing reads for summer 2018</a></strong> <strong>________________________</strong> “Among their many remarkable qualities is a willingness to take risks with form. And we were struck, overall, by their disruptive power: these novels disrupted the way we thought about things we knew about, and made us think about things we didn’t know about.” There are only three American authors on the list, which will please critics of the decision in 2014 to open the prize up to authors from outside the UK and Commonwealth. Following this decision, two winners – Paul Beatty and George Saunders – have been from the United States. The judging panel, chaired by Appiah, is made up of Val McDermid, Leo Robson, Jacqueline Rose and Leanne Shapton. The shortlist will be announced on September 20, and the winner on October 16. <em>Snap</em> by Belinda Bauer (UK) <em>Milkman</em> by Anna Burns (UK) <em>Sabrina</em> by Nick Drnaso (USA) <em>Washington Black</em> by Esi Edugyan (Canada) <em>In Our Mad And Furious City</em> by Guy Gunaratne (UK) <em>Everything Under</em> by Daisy Johnson (UK) <em>The Mars Room</em> by Rachel Kushner (USA) <em>The Water Cure</em> by Sophie Mackintosh (UK) <em>Warlight</em> by Michael Ondaatje (Canada) <em>The Overstory</em> by Richard Powers (USA) <em>The Long Take </em>by Robin Robertson (UK) <em>Normal People</em> by Sally Rooney (Ireland) <em>From A Low And Quiet Sea</em> by Donal Ryan (Ireland)