The Orange Prize longlist has been announced in the UK. Among the 20 titles chosen are some heavyweights: Margaret Atwood, Toni Morisson, Anne Tyler and Rose Tremain.

The Orange Prize has evolved from a 'British feminist ghetto towards Britain’s most international literary award' The Guardian reports.

The shortlist will be announced on April 27, with the awards ceremony scheduled for June 8. The winner will receive a cheque for £30,000.

The long-list is:

• Brick Lane by Monica Ali
• Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
• The Sari Shop by Rupa Bajwa
• Kith and Kin by Stevie Davies
• State of Happiness by Stella Duffy

• The Flood by Maggie Gee
• The Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall
• The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard noted in LeafSalon
• Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller review in
LeafSalon
• The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
• A Visit from Voltaire by Dinah Lee Küng
• Small Island by Andrea Levy
• Gilgamesh by Joan London
• The Internationals by Sarah May
• Love by Toni Morrison
• Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
• The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
• Ice Road by Gillian Slovo
• The Colour by Rose Tremain
• The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler

The chair of the judges panel, Sandi Toksvig has called the list "a great shelf of work where the famous and the fledgling writer, the serious and the satirical, all stand together banging the drum for the glory of the English language. I'm sure the judges weren't meant to have this much fun." It is worth mentioning that Oryx and Crake and Notes on a Scandal have also been nominated for this years' Booker Prize.

The organisers have also announced a new competition, beginning next year – the Orange Award for New Writers. Kate Mosse, co-founder and honorary director of the Orange Prize, said: "We hope that this exciting new award, to run alongside the main prize, will help promote and celebrate the work of novelists and short story writers at the beginning of their careers."