The Man Asian Literary Prize (nicknamed the 'Asian Booker') will be awarded in November 2008. The first Prize was awarded to the Chinese writer Jiang Rong for his novel Wolf Totem last year (see accompanying review). The Prize is open for unpublished works in English, as well as for translations. It is jointly administered by representatives of the Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival, the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and is sponsored by Man Group plc, a leading global financial services firm based in London.
The 2008 Prize Longlist was announced recently, with first place going to Indians in terms of numbers, followed by writers from the Philippines.
Tulsi Badrinath (India), Melting Love
Hans Billimoria (India) Ugly Tree
Ian Rosales Casocot (Philippines) Sugar Land
Han Dong (China) Banished!
Anjum Hasan (India) Neti, Neti
Daisy Hasan (India) The To-Let House
Abdullah Hussein (Pakistan) The Afghan Girl
Tsutomu Igarashi (Japan) To the Temple
Rupa Krishnan (India) Something Wicked This Way Comes
Murong Xuecun (China) Leave Me Alone, Chengdu
Kavery Nambisan (India) The Story that Must Not be Told
Sumana Roy (India) Love in the Chicken's Neck
Vaibhav Saini (India) On the Edge of Pandemonium
Salma (India) Midnight Tales
Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi (India) Lost Flamingoes of Bombay
Lakambini A. Sitoy (Philippines) Sweet Haven
Sarayu Srivatsa (India) The Last Pretence
Miguel Syjuco (Philippines) Ilustrado
Amit Varma ( India) My Friend, Sancho
Yu Hua (China) Brothers
Alfred A. Yuson (Philippines) The Music Child
The shortlist will be announced on October 2008, and the winner in mid-November at an awards ceremony in Hong Kong. The judging panel for the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize is: Adrienne Clarkson, (Chair) a refugee/immigrant to Canada during the '40s who rose to become its Governor General and is a leading cultural figure; Nicholas Jose, author of several acclaimed novels, including Paper Nautilus, The Rose Crossing, The Custodians, The Red Thread, and Original Face, as well as a memoir, Black Sheep: Journey to Borroloola; and Pankaj Mishra is the author of New York Time's Notable Books Temptations of the West: How to be Modern in India, Pakistan and Beyond and An End to Suffering: The Buddha in the World, and a novel, The Romantics.
Peter Gordon, Executive Director of the Man Asian Literary Prize said: "The long list…demonstrates once again the depth and diversity of Asian contemporary writing. We were pleased that many of the works on last year's long list were published or are scheduled for publication, and we hope that highlighting Asian writers will have a similar effect this year and in the years to come."
Additional information on the website:
www.manasianliteraryprize.org