Canadian poet Anne Carson is among the nominees for the inaugural Folio Prize honouring the best English-language books published in Britain.

Carson’s long-form poem Red Doc> made the shortlist of eight finalists “” including five American authors “” for the £40,000 prize ($72,000 Canadian). The Folio Prize aims to rival the prestigious Man Booker Prize, which, starting this year, is open to U.K.-published books written in English by authors from anywhere in the world.

British poet and jury chair Lavinia Greenlaw says that the inaugural Folio shortlist celebrates risk-taking authors and that the dominance of U.S. authors is unintentional.

The finalists are:

• Red Doc>, Anne Carson
• Schroder, Amity Gaige
• Last Friends, Jane Gardam
• Benediction, Kent Haruf
• The Flame Throwers, Rachel Kushner
• A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing, Eimear McBride
• A Naked Singularity, Sergio De La Pava
• Tenth of December, George Saunders