Canadian authors John Bemrose and Lewis DeSoto are among the long list of nominees for the 2004 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, announced in London Thursday.

Bemrose's The Island Walkers and DeSoto's A Blade of Grass join the 20 other nominated books, including The Great Fire by celebrated Australian author Shirley Hazzard and The Honeymoon, a novel by London-born writer Justin Haythe, who also penned the screenplay to the recent film The Clearing.

"This has been a very rich year for fiction and we have a strong and varied long list of 22 books," said judging chair and British MP Chris Smith.

"I'm particularly pleased that there are a number of first or second novels on the list as well as a number of well-established writers."

A finalist for last year's Giller Prize, The Island Walkers tells the story of a family battling labour, class and racial strife while living in a southwestern Ontario mill town during the mid-1960s.

The novel is Bemrose's first, though the Toronto-based freelance arts journalist and longtime Maclean's magazine contributor has also published two poetry collections and the play Mother Moon.

Set on a South African border town, DeSoto's A Blade of Grass tells of the struggle over a farm and the consequences this battle brings to two women, one white and one black. The author immigrated to Canada from South Africa in 1967and now divides his time between Toronto and Normandy, France.

The Booker long list was compiled from 132 entries submitted by publishers throughout the former British Commonwealth and Ireland. While the Booker winner receives approximately $117,600, each shortlisted author also receives about $5,800.

Last year's winner, Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre, has gone on to sell nearly 500,000 copies, is being translated into 30 languages and is being adapted for film.

Prize officials will release the short list Sept 21, with a London awards ceremony announcing the winner following on Oct. 19.