The Man Asian Literary Prize was an annual literary award between 2007 and 2012, given to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English, and published in the previous calendar year. It is awarded to writers who are citizens or residents of one of the following 34 (out of 50) Asian countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, East Timor, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, The Hong Kong or Macau SAR's, The Maldives, The PRC of China, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam. Submissions are invited through publishers who are entitled to each submit two novels by August 31 each year. Entry forms are available from May.
From 2010 to 2012, the Man Asian Literary Prize awarded USD 30,000 to the author and an additional USD 5,000 to the translator (if any). For the prize of the first three years of its running, from 2007 to 2009, the Man Asian Literary Prize awarded USD 10,000 (author)/ 3,000 USD (translator) to a novel written by an Asian writer of the elective countries, either in English or translated into English, and yet unpublished. Submissions were made by the authors. The reason given by the Prize for the changes introduced in 2010 include the difficulty in finding talented unpublished authors. With the new format, which has shortlisted and winning novels already available to the literary community, media and general public, the Man Asian Literary Prize recognises “the best English works each year by Asian authors and aims to significantly raise international awareness and appreciation of Asian literature.”
The Man Asian Literary Prize was sponsored by Man Group plc., title sponsor of the Man Booker Prize. It was announced in October 2012 that Man Group would no longer sponsor the prize after the 2012 winner was announced in 2013.
– Chinese writer Jiang Rong won the inaugural prize with his work, Wolf Totem.
Judging panel
Andre Aciman (United States)Adrienne Clarkson (Canada)Nicholas Jose (Australia)Shortlist
Jiang Rong was selected from a short-list of five:
Jose Dalisay Jr., Soledad's SisterReeti Gadekar, Families at HomeNu Nu Yi Inwa, Smile As They BowJiang Rong, Wolf TotemXu Xi, Habit of a Foreign SkyAlso longlisted in 2007
On 20 July 2007, the Prize announced a list of 23 names:
Tulsi Badrinath, The Living GodSanjay Bahadur, The Sound Of WaterKankana Basu, Cappuccino DuskSanjiv Bhatla, InJusticeShahbano Bilgrami, Without DreamsSaikat Chakraborty, The AmnesiacXiaolu Guo, 20 Fragments of a Ravenous YouthAmeena Hussein, The Moon in the WaterHitomi Kanehara, AutofictionN S Madhavan, Litanies of Dutch BatteryLaxmi Narayan Mishra, The Little GodMo Yan, Life and Death Are Wearing Me OutNalini Rajan, The Pangolin’s TaleChiew-Siah Tei, Little Hut of Leaping FishesShreekumar Varma, Maria’s RoomAnuradha Vijayakrishnan, Seeing The GirlSujatha Vijayaraghavan, The Silent OneEgoyan Zheng, Fleeting Light – In 2008, the Man Asian Literary Prize was awarded to Miguel Syjuco, a Filipino writer now based in Montreal, for his novel Ilustrado.
Judging panel
Adrienne Clarkson (Canada)Pankaj Mishra (India)Nicholas Jose (Australia)Shortlist
Kaveri Nambisan, The Story that Must Not be ToldSiddharth Dhanvant Sanghvi, The Lost Flamingoes of BombayMiguel Syjuco, IlustradoYu Hua, BrothersAlfred A. Yuson, The Music ChildAlso longlisted in 2008
On 22 July 2008, the Prize announced a list of 21 names:
Tulsi Badrinath, Melting LoveHans Billimoria, Ugly treeIan Casocot, Sugar LandHan Dong, BanishedAnjum Hasan, Neti,NetiDaisy Hasan, The To-Let HouseAbdullah Hussein, The Afghan GirlTsutomu Igarashi, To the TempleRupa Krishnan, Something Wicked This Way ComesMurong Xuecun, Leave Me Alone, ChengduSumana Roy, Love in the Chicken's NeckVaibhav Saini, On the Edge of PandemoniumSalma, Midnight TalesLakambini Sitoy, Sweet HavenSarayu Srivatsa, The Last PretenseAmit Varma, My Friend, Sancho – The winner for 2009 was Su Tong for The Boat to Redemption.
Judging panel
Colm Tóibín (Ireland)Gish Jen (United States)Pankaj Mishra (India)Shortlist
On October 15, 2009, the Prize announced a shortlist of 5 names:
Omair Ahmad, Jimmy the TerroristSiddharth Chowdhury, Day ScholarEric Gamalinda, The Descartes HighlandsNitasha Kaul, ResidueSu Tong, The Boat to RedemptionAlso longlisted in 2009
On 24 July 2009, the Prize announced a list of 24 names:
Gopilal Acharya, With a Stone in My HeartKishwar Desai, Witness the NightSamuel Ferrer, The Last Gods of IndochineRam Govardhan, Rough with the SmoothKanishka Gupta, History of HateKameroon Rasheed Ismeer, Memoirs of a TerroristRatika Kapur, OverwinterMariam Karim, The Bereavement of Agnes DesmoulinsKarri Sriram, The Autobiography of a Mad NationR. Zamora Linmark, LecheMario I. Miclat, 'Secrets of the Eighteen MansionsClarissa V. Militante, Different CountriesVaruna Mohite, OmigodDipika Mukherjee, Thunder DemonsHena Pillai, BlacklandRoan Ching-yueh, Lin Xiu-Tzi and her FamilyEdgar Calabia Samar, Eight Muses of the FallK. Srilata, Table for FourOyungerel Tsedevdamba, Shadow of the Red Star – The winner, Bi Feiyu's Three Sisters, was announced March 17, 2011.
Judging Panel
Monica Ali (United Kingdom)Homi K. Bhabha (United States)Hsu-Ming Teo (Australia)Shortlist
Bi Feiyu, Three SistersManu Joseph, Serious MenTabish Khair, The Thing About ThugsKenzaburō Ōe, The ChangelingYoko Ogawa, Hotel IrisAlso longlisted in 2010
Upamanyu Chatterjee, Way to GoAnosh Irani, Dahanu RoadSarita Mandanna, Tiger HillsUsha K.R., Monkey-manCriselda Yabes, Below the Crying Mountain The winner, Shin Kyung-sook for Please Look After Mom, was announced March 15, 2012. She was the first woman to win the prize.
Judging panel
Razia Iqbal, chair (Uganda)Chang-rae Lee (Korean-American)Vikas Swarup (India)Shortlist
Jamil Ahmad, The Wandering FalconJahnavi Barua, RebirthRahul Bhattacharya, The Sly Company of People Who CareAmitav Ghosh, River of SmokeShin Kyung-sook, Please Look After MomYan Lianke, Dream of Ding VillageBanana Yoshimoto, The LakeAlso longlisted in 2011
Tahmima Anam, The Good MuslimMahmoud Dowlatabadi, The ColonelHaruki Murakami, 1Q84Anuradha Roy, The Folded EarthTarun J Tejpal, The Valley of Masks The winner, Tan Twan Eng for The Garden of Evening Mists, was announced March 15, 2013.
Judging panel
Maya Jaggi, chair (United Kingdom)Monique Truong (Vietnamese-American)Vikram Chandra (India)Shortlist (announced 9 January 2013)
Musharraf Ali Farooqi, Between Clay and DustHiromi Kawakami, The BriefcaseOrhan Pamuk, Silent HouseTan Twan Eng, The Garden of Evening MistsJeet Thayil, NarcopolisAlso longlisted
Benyamin, Goat DaysAnjali Joseph, Another CountryUzma Aslam Khan, Thinner Than SkinKim Thúy, RuKim Young-ha, Black FlowerNayomi Munaweera, Island of a Thousand MirrorsElif Shafak, HonourSheng Keyi, Northern GirlsRoma Tearne, The Road To UrbinoTie Ning, The Bathing Women