Sunday, October 18, 2009
5:56 PM |
Eric Gamalinda Makes It as Finalist to the Man Asian Prize!
[PR]Omair Ahmad, Siddharth Chowdhury, Eric Gamalinda, Nitasha Kaul and Su Tong are today announced as the shortlisted authors for the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize, the leading regional prize for novels unpublished in English. The shortlist, chosen by an international judging panel, was announced at the Frankfurt Book Fair, where a display about the prize can be seen at the Hong Kong Government pavilion.
The five shortlisted books, chosen from a longlist of 24, are Omair Ahmad's
Jimmy the Terrorist, Siddharth Chowdhury's
Day Scholar,
Eric Gamalinda's The Descartes Highlands (read an excerpt
here), Nitasha Kaul's
Residue, and Su Tong's
The Boat to Redemption.
Chair of the judging panel Colm Toibin, comments: “Reading these books was a fascinating experience because of the range of styles and subjects. The variety of ways in which voice and tone was used in these novels, the sense of commitment to story, the range in the methods of exploring both self and society, the interest in experimenting and making it new, made the time
spent judging this prize rewarding and enlightening.”
The winner of the
2009 Man Asian Literary Prize will be announced on Monday, 16 November 2009 at a dinner at the Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong. The winning author will receive US$10,000 and can look forward to publication and wider recognition in the English-reading world. A distinguished panel of judges selects a single work of fiction to be awarded the prize each year. Chaired by Irish novelist Colm Toibin, the 2009 judges include Chinese American author Gish Jen and Indian writer Pankaj Mishra who was also a judge of the 2008 Prize.
The Man Asian Literary Prize was established in 2006 to bring greater worldwide attention to Asian writing and authors. Works submitted for consideration must not yet have been published in English, although they may have been published in other languages. The Prize 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.
The inaugural prize was awarded in 2007 to
Wolf Totem by Jiang Rong, which was published in English to great acclaim in early 2008. Miguel Syjuco’s
Illustrado won the 2008 prize and will be published in 2010. Many of the short- and longlisted works from 2007 and 2008 have also been published.
Labels: books, contests, man asian, philippine literature, writers
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Saturday, July 25, 2009
7:48 PM |
Hurrah to the Five Filipinos in the Man Asian 2009 Longlist!
The Administrative Committee for the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize has today announced the longlist of works for this prize:
Gopilal Acharya,
With a Stone in My HeartOmair Ahmad,
Jimmy the TerroristSiddharth Chowdhury,
Day ScholarKishwar Desai,
Witness the NightSamuel Ferrer,
The Last Gods of IndochineEric Gamalinda, The Descartes Highlands
Ram Govardhan,
Rough with the SmoothKanishka Gupta,
History of HateKameroon Rasheed Ismeer,
Memoirs of a TerroristRatika Kapur,
OverwinterMariam Karim,
The Bereavement of Agnes DesmoulinsSriram Karri,
The Autobiography of a Mad NationNitasha Kaul,
Residue R. Zamora Linmark, Leche
Mario I. Miclat, Secrets of the Eighteen Mansions
Clarissa V. Militante, Different Countries
Varuna Mohite,
OmigodDipika Mukherjee,
Thunder DemonsHena Pillai,
BlacklandRoan Ching-Yueh,
Lin Xiu-Tzi and Her FamilyEdgar Calabia Samar, Eight Muses of the Fall
K. Srilata,
Table for FourSu Tong,
The Redemption BoatOyungerel Tsedevdamba,
Shadow of the Red StarThis longlist of 24 unpublished works of Asian fiction in English will be reviewed and evaluated by the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize judges, who will announce a shortlist of works in October 2009. The winner will be announced on Monday, 16 November at an awards ceremony in Hong Kong.
The judging panel for the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize comprises Indian writer Pankaj Mishra, Irish novelist Colm Toibin (Chair), and Chinese American author Gish Jen.
The 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize longlist was chosen from among 150 submissions received from all over Asia.
The largest single group of submissions was from India, followed by the Philippines and Hong Kong. Entries came from as far afield as Bhutan, Mongolia and Myanmar as well as from China, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The Prize received submissions from well-established as well as first-time authors, and these included translated works as well as works originally in English. Most submissions were made by authors themselves, with a handful coming from literary agents or translators.
David Parker, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Man Asian Literary Prize said: "We are delighted to see so many exciting entries from all over Asia. Now in its third year the Prize has established itself as a window onto the extraordinary wealth of creative talent in this part of the world."
Man Group plc is the sponsor of the Man Asian Literary Prize and the annual Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival. Additional information is available on the
website.
Labels: contests, man asian, philippine literature, writers
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Friday, November 14, 2008
10:36 AM |
Chuck Won the Man Asian!
Here's one for Philippine literature! Miguel Syjuco's novel
Ilustrado has won the
2008 Man Asian Literary Prize.
From the press release: A panel of three internationally acclaimed authors and experienced literary judges named Filipino author Miguel Syjuco winner of the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize for his novel Ilustrado, a fictional account of a young Filipino caught within a notorious scandal spanning over the Philippine history.
The panel of judges for the 2008 prize praised
Ilustrado: "The shortlist for the Man Asian prize testifies to the great vitality of the novel in Asian societies undergoing hectic and unexpected transformations. In the end, we had to choose; and
Ilustrado seems to us to possess formal ambition, linguistic inventiveness and sociopolitical insight in the most satisfying measure. Brilliantly conceived, and stylishly executed, it covers a large and tumultuous historical period with seemingly effortless skill. It is also ceaselessly entertaining, frequently raunchy, and effervescent with humour."
The prize winner was announced at a celebratory dinner at The Peninsula Hong Kong. Miguel Syjuco was awarded USD 10,000.
Ilustrado was selected from shortlist of five, including Kavery Nambisan's
The Story That Must Not be Told, Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi's
The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay, Yu Hua's
Brothers, and Alfred A. Yuson's
The Music Child.
Read an excerpt from
Ilustrado here.
Labels: contests, man asian, novels, philippine literature, writers
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Tuesday, July 22, 2008
8:09 PM |
The Longlist for the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize
Guess what I found in the mail inbox today. Some good news --
great news, in fact. My novel,
Sugar Land, has just been long-listed in the second year of competition of the prestigious
Man Asian Literary Prize. (Last year, Jose Dalisay Jr. was shortlisted for
Soledad's Sister, now out in bookstores everywhere.) And do you know what's even sweeter? I'm in the company of three other Filipinos, all of them very good friends: Lakambini Sitoy for
Sweet Haven, Miguel Syjuco for
Ilustrado, and Krip Yuson for
The Music Child. Filipinos compose the largest batch of nominees, second to the Indians.
(About time!) And for this alone, I feel greatly honored.
Seriously, I don't think I'll get into the short list. The other names are quite formidable. As Oscar hopefuls would say, "It's honor enough to be nominated."
Char! This means harder work for me in the next few days as I try to complete and polish off that manuscript before a certain deadline in August.
Oh God.The press release from Hong Kong goes:
The Administrative Committee for the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize has today announced the longlist of works for this prize:
Tulsi Badrinath, Melting Love
Hans Billimoria, Ugly Tree
Ian Rosales Casocot, Sugar Land
Han Dong, Banished!
Anjum Hasan, Neti, Neti
Daisy Hasan, The To-Let House
Abdullah Hussein, The Afghan Girl
Tsutomu Igarashi, To the Temple
Rupa Krishnan, Something Wicked This Way Comes
Murong Xuecun, Leave Me Alone, Chengdu
Kavery Nambisan, The Story That Must Not be Told
Sumana Roy, Love in the Chicken’s Neck
Vaibhav Saini, On the Edge of Pandemonium
Salma, Midnight Tales
Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi, Lost Flamingoes of Bombay
Lakambini A. Sitoy, Sweet Haven
Sarayu Srivatsa, The Last Pretence
Miguel Syjuco, Ilustrado
Amit Varma, My Friend, Sancho
Yu Hua, Brothers
Alfred A. Yuson, The Music Child
This longlist of 21 unpublished works of Asian fiction in English will be reviewed and evaluated by the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize judges, who will announce a shortlist of works in October 2008. The winner will be announced on Thursday, 13 November at an awards ceremony in Hong Kong.
The judging panel for the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize is Adrienne Clarkson, former Governor General of Canada (Chair); Nicholas Jose, writer, scholar and former Cultural Counsellor at the Australian Embassy in China; and Pankaj Mishra, acclaimed Indian writer and thinker.
The 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize longlist was chosen from submissions received from all over Asia. The largest single group of submissions was from India, followed by the Philippines. The rest came from other countries throughout the region. The Prize received submissions from well-established as well as first-time authors, and entries included translated works as well as works originally in English.
Peter Gordon, Executive Director of the Man Asian Literary Prize said: "The long list, which contains unpublished works from throughout the region from Japan to Pakistan, 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."
Go, Team Philippines!
[UPDATE]
And, like Miguel (who said it first in his Facebook), I'm also tickled to see all our names in The New York
Times'
Paper Cuts blog. And the
The Guardian's James Wignall notes
the strong showing of Filipino writers in the list. (Link sent in by Ed Maranan.)
Here's hoping that's a good sign of things to come.
Labels: contests, man asian, philippine literature, writers, writing
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