2011 Shortlist

• JAMIL AHMAD, Pakistan - The Wandering Falcon (Penguin India/Hamish Hamilton)
• JAHNAVI BARUA, India - Rebirth (Penguin India/Penguin Books)
• RAHUL BHATTACHARYA, India - The Sly Company of People Who Care (Pan Macmillan/Picador India/Picador)
• AMITAV GHOSH, India - River of Smoke (John Murray/Penguin India/Hamish Hamilton)
• KYUNG-SOOK SHIN, South Korea - Please Look After Mom (Random House/Knopf)
• YAN LIANKE, China - Dream of Ding Village (Grove Atlantic)
• BANANA YOSHIMOTO, Japan - The Lake (Melville House)

Four of the shortlisted novels were originally written in English; the novels from South Korea, China and Japan are all judged in translation.

Speaking of the decision Chair Judge, Razia Iqbal said, “The judges were greatly impressed by the imaginative power of the stories now being written about rapidly changing life in worlds as diverse as the arid borderlands of Pakistan, the crowded cityscape of modern Seoul, and the opium factories of nineteenth century Canton. This power and diversity made it imperative for us to expand the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize shortlist beyond the usual five books.”

The two other judges for this year’s Prize are Pulitzer-prize finalist and author of The Surrendered, Chang-rae Lee, and Vikas Swarup, author of Q&A which was filmed as the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire. 

Press Release

 

Tuesday 29^th November 2011

The Man Asian Literary Prize is thrilled to let you know that it will be holding the shortlist announcement for the 2011 Prize at a special event at Man Group, London, on 10 January 2012.

The announcement will be twinned with a similar event in Hong Kong, the home of the Prize, and will allow invited guests to celebrate the shortlist simultaneously in both Asia and the West.

Chair Judge Razia Iqbal will announce the shortlist at 10am in London (6pm Hong Kong) which will be broadcast live online at www.manasianliteraryprize.org

David Parker, Chair of the Board of Directors, said, “Bringing Asian literature to the widest possible readership is a key aim of the Man Asian Literary Prize and so it is fitting that we are holding a joint celebration of the shortlist in both London and Hong Kong. Readers from around the world will be able to watch the announcement live and join in the conversation before the winner of the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize is announced on 15 March 2012 at a Prize Dinner in Hong Kong.”

For enquiries please contact media@manasianliteraryprize.org

Event Partner: Asia House, London

http://youtu.be/Z31xLDZxBvc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9BwVLXfLdY

2011 Longlist

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

In scope, range and subject matter, our longlist presents us with the epic as well as the quotidian, the established writers as well as some on the cusp of greater success. But what connects them is a thing that happens when we read good fiction: the cumulative impact of sentence after good sentence is transforming for the reader. So, while it is hoped that the list reflects among the best of what is coming out of Asia, it also presents Asia to itself, an equally important mirror to hold up.

- Razia Iqbal, 2011 Judge (Chair)

The judges for this year’s 2011 Prize are Pulitzer-prize finalist and author of The Surrendered, Chang-rae Lee, and Vikas Swarup, author of Q&A which was filmed as the Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire. The judging panel of three is chaired by BBC Special Correspondent Razia Iqbal.

Press Release