Shaw appeared in the Harry Potter films

She will join writer and academic Hermione Lee, who will be chairing the judging panel.

Poet and novelist Simon Armitage, novelist Candia McWilliams and critic Anthony Quinn will also be judging.

The shortlist for the novel prize will be revealed in September, while the winner will be announced at a dinner on 10 October.

Last year's winner was John Banville, who won the �50,000 prize for his novel The Sea. He beat shortlisted authors Julian Barnes, Zadie Smith and Kazuo Ishiguro.

Shaw has starred as Aunt Petunia in the Harry Potter films as well as appearing in My Left Foot, Jane Eyre, Anna Karenina and Gormenghast.

Lee first sat on the literary panel in 1981, when the prize was awarded to Salman Rushdie for Midnight's Children.