One of the new names on the list of nominees for the Women’s Prize for Fiction (formerly known as the Orange Prize) is Canadian author Sheila Heti.

Heti is up for the prestigious award with her novel How Should a Person Be?, published in 2012, and is longlisted alongside 19 other contenders for the prize. Some of the favorites this year include Brits Zadie Smith with her novel NW and Hilary Mantel with Bring Up The Bodies. Canadian-born Heti certainly faces some tough competition for the $30 000 prize.

According to Miranda Richardson, chair of the 5-member judging panel, the task of selecting the candidates for the prestigious award was not an easy one. "The list we have ended up with is, we believe, truly representative of that diversity of style, content and provenance, and contains those works which genuinely inspired the most excitement and passion amongst the judges," Richardson commented for CBS news. Richardson is joined on this year’s panel by broadcaster Razia Iqbal, author and journalist Rachel Johnson, author JoJo Moyes and activist Natasha Walter.

The award, established in 1996 aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of female authors and is awarded every year to the best English-language novel, written by a woman – regardless of nationality or country of origin. The winner will receive the $30,000 grant and the bronze “Bessie” statuette at a ceremony on June 5.