New chapter for Man Booker Prize: 4 US authors battle UK's best writers

British author Howard Jacobson poses with his book "The Finkler Question" after winning the 2010 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. Jacobson was the surprise winner, the first comedy to scoop one of the world's most coveted literary awards.

It's a "vintage year" for the Man Booker Prize as the prestigious literary award opens up to American writers for the first time.

Howard Jacobson, David Mitchell and Ali Smith are among the British heavyweight writers who will compete for the Man Booker prize in its first incarnation as a global literary award, it was announced on Wednesday (July 23), along with David Nicholls, writer of the bestsellers Starter For Ten and One Day.