'I was a virgin'

Man Asian Literary Prize 2009 Shortlist

From the Man Asian L:iterary Prize website press release:

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today announced as the shortlisted authors for the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize, the leading regional prize for novels unpublished in English.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, Jimmy the Terrorist
• Siddharth Chowdhury, Day Scholar
• Eric Gamalinda, The Descartes Highlands
• Nitasha Kaul, Residue
• Su Tong, 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.

Man Group plc is the sponsor of the Man Asian Literary Prize, in cooperation with Asian Literary Prize Ltd. Man Group also supports a variety of other programmes as well as charities aimed at furthering literature and literacy, including the Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival, a 10-day event that attracts authors from around the world and thousands of attendees. Separately, Man Group also sponsors the annual Man Booker Prize and the bi-annual Man Booker International Prize, in conjunction with the Booker Prize Foundation.

Man Group is a world-leading alternative investment management business. With a broad range of funds for institutional and private investors globally, it is known for its performance, innovative product design and investor service. Man Group manages about US$44 billion. Founded in 1783, today Man Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100 Index with a market capitalisation of about £5 billion. Man Group is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and the FTSE4Good Index.

Further information can be found at www.mangroupplc.com.

New Acquisitions

1. Everyman by Philip Roth
2. Great Stories by Chekhov (Edited by David H. Greene)
3. Nectar in a Sieve by Kamala Markandaya
4. Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol
5. The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles (New Translation by Paul Roche)
    The complete texts of Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigon
6. The Waterfall by Margaret Drabble
7. A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf
8. The Odyssey of Homer (Translated into English prose by T. E. Shaw [Col. T. E. Lawrence])
9. Select Edition:
    Silks by Dick Francis and Felix Francis
    Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani
    Chasing Darkness by Robert Crais
    Water, Stone, Heart by Will North

New Acquisitions

1. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
2. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
3. The Bone Garden by Tess Gerritsen
4. The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore

Note: I actually saw Meyer at Barnes and Noble here in Pittsford, NY months ago (or was it last year). She was in a gown. She was walking towards the table where she signed copies of her books. She actually smiled at me. I didn't know her then.