The Man Asian Literary Prize longlist has been announced. Of the 12 authors, most of them are from South Asia, with 5 from India alone. Many familiar names made the list such as Haruki Muarakami with his dystopian absurdist epic novel 1Q84 and Banana Yoshimoto with The Lake. The Man Asian Literary Prize is awarded to an Asian writer whose work is in English, or translated to English. The shortlist will be announced in January, and the award will be given out in March. The longlist is as follows:

JAMIL AHMAD (Pakistan) – The Wandering Falcon
TAHMIMA ANAM (Bangladesh) – The Good Muslim
JAHNAVI BARUA (India) – Rebirth
RAHUL BHATTACHARYA (India) – The Sly Company of People Who Care
MAHMOUD DOWLATABADI (Iran) – The Colonel
AMITAV GHOSH (India) – River of Smoke
HARUKI MURAKAMI (Japan) – 1Q84
ANURADHA ROY (India) – The Folded Earth
KYUNG-SOOK SHIN (South Korea) – Please Look After Mom
TARUN J TEJPAL (India) – The Valley of Masks
YAN LIANKE (China) – Dream of Ding Village
BANANA YOSHIMOTO (Japan) – The Lake

This is the 5th Man Asian Literary Prize, the first being awarded in 2007. Of the past 4 winners, 3 are Chinese writers, namely Bi Feiyu in 2010 for Three Sisters, Su Tong in 2009 for The Boat to Redemption and Jiang Rong in 2007 for Wolf Totem. In 2008, the award was given to Filipino writer Miguel Syjuco for Ilustrado.

Which author do you think will clinch 2011’s award? Have you read any of these titles? Some of these titles are available at NLB:

The wandering falcon
Author:Jamil Ahmad
Publisher:London : Hamish Hamilton, 2011
Call No.: English AHM

The good Muslim : a novel
Author:Tahmima Anam
Publisher:New York : Harper, c2011
Call No.:English ANA

The sly company of people who care
Author: Rahul Bhattacharya
Publisher:New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011
Call No.: English BHA

River of smoke
Author: Amitav Ghosh
Publisher:London : John Murray, 2011
Call No.: English GHO

1Q84
Author: Haruki Murakami ; translated from the Japanese by Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel
Publisher:New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2011
Call No.: English MUR

Please look after mom : a novel
Author: Kyung-sook Shin ; translated from the Korean by Chi-Young Kim
Publisher:New York : A.A. Knopf, c2011
Call No.: English SIN

Dream of Ding Village
Author: Yan Lianke ; translated from the Chinese by Cinder Carter
Publisher:New York : London : Corsair, 2011
Call No.: English YAN

The Lake
Author: Banana Yoshimoto ; translated from the Japanese by Michael Emmerich
Publisher:Brooklyn, N.Y. : Melville House, 2011
Call No.: English YOS

The folded earth
Author: Anuradha Roy
Publisher:Gurgaon, India : Hachette India, 2011
Call No.: English ROY

All book covers are copyright of their respective publishers.

Contributed by Lo Wan Ni, Associate Librarian, National Library Board