The Pinoy Penman Long-Listed For The Man Asian Literary Prize

Foremost Filipino fictionist Jose "Butch" Dalisay, Jr. has been long-listed in the first-ever Man Asia Literary Prize, as he announced in his blog, Pinoy Penman, after he completed and submitted the rest of his novel, Soledad's Sister.

Prof. Dalisay said:

"I gave my students some special assignments and took the whole week off last week to try and complete in seven days what I had been sitting on for seven years.

I had about a week to come up with the rest of my novel, after submitting a sample of 10,000 words last March."

The Inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize (or MLAP just to have it shortened) is the Asian equivalent of the Man Booker Prize and will be awarded in November 2007.

From the MLAP website:

This major new literary prize aims to recognise the best of new Asian literature and to bring it to the attention of the world literary community. A distinguished panel of judges selects a single work of fiction to be awarded the prize each year. Works submitted for consideration must not yet have been published in English, although they may have been published in other languages...

More than 240 valid submissions were received before the entry period closed on 31 March 2007. Submissions were received from throughout Asia, in particular from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Indonesia, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, China, Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Japan. These included works both originally in English as well as works translated from languages as wide-ranging and Chinese, Japanese, Burmese, Bahasa Indonesian, Hindi and Malayalam and came from both first-time authors as well as authors who are well-established in their own countries or more widely.

I hope that my most adored Pinoy author not only be shortlisted but bring home the prestigious prize.