Authors selected for consideration out of the 61 entries include literary veteran and previous winner Frank Moorhouse for Cold Light, his study of politics and sexual politics in 1950s Canberra.
Mark Dapin's unconventional look at the experiences of a prisoner of war on the Thai-Burma railway, Spirit House, has also been recognised.
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Previous Miles Franklin short-listed author Kate Grenville returns this year with Sarah Thornhill, a semi-autobiographical novel.
"The 2012 list reflects the strength of historical fiction in the contemporary novel," Professor Gillian Whitlock, a Miles Franklin judge said in a statement.
The 2011 winner of the $50,000 prize was Kim Scott for his novel, That Deadman Dance.
The 13 entries in the 2012 Miles Franklin Literary Award long list include:
Tony Birch - Blood (University of Queensland Press)
Steven Carroll - The Spirit of Progress (Fourth Estate, HarperCollins Publishers Australia))
Mark Dapin - Spirit House (Pan Macmillan Australia)
Virginia Duigan - The Precipice (Vintage, Random House Australia)
Anna Funder - All That I Am (Hamish Hamilton (Penguin Group Australia)
Kate Grenville - Sarah Thornhill (The Text Publishing Company)
Gail Jones - Five Bells (Vintage (Random House Australia))
Gillian Mears - Foal's Bread (Allen & Unwin)
Alex Miller - Autumn Laing (Allen & Unwin)
Frank Moorhouse - Cold Light (Vintage, Random House Australia)
Favel Parrett - Past the Shallows (Hachette Australia (Hachette imprint)
Elliot Perlman - The Street Sweeper (Vintage, Random House Australia)
Charlotte Wood - Animal People (Allen & Unwin)
