Writer, critic and broadcaster Professor Lisa Jardine has been named as the chair of this year's panel of Booker Prize judges.

The Booker Prize for Fiction, the UK's best known literary award, is in its 34th year.

The panel comprises novelist and comedian David Baddiel, novelist Russell Celyn Jones, novelist and analytical psychologist Sally Vickers and Erica Wagner, literary editor of The Times.

The Booker long list - about 25 titles under serious consideration for the prize - will be announced in mid- August, and the shortlist in mid-September.

The judges will announce the winner at an awards dinner in late October.

Professor Jardine said she was "excited" at the prospect of reading books of the calibre of the Booker entries.

She looked forward to "stimulating discussions with my judges, each of whom has a serious, long-standing commitment to contemporary writing", she said.

Professor Jardine reviews regularly for numerous newspapers and magazines, and has been a presenter on BBC Radio 3's Night Waves, Radio 4's Start the Week and Channel 4's Powerhouse.

She is currently Professor of Renaissance Studies at Queen Mary University of London, and an Honorary Fellow of King's College Cambridge.