Pakistani writer Musharraf Ali Farooqi’s book Between Clay and Dust is among the five books shortlisted for Asia’s most prestigious literary prize on Wednesday. The Man Asian Literary Prize announced its shortlist, narrowing the field of 15 longlist contenders to five works from across the continent, from Istanbul to Tokyo. This year’s shortlist sees a crop of already-accomplished authors, including Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk of Turkey — whose 1983 book “Silent House,” was released in English translation this year, thus making it eligible for the prize — and two authors whose books were also short listed for the 2012 Man Booker Prize for fiction, “The Garden of Evening Mists” by Tan Twan Eng of Malaysia and Indian poet Jeet Thayil’s debut novel, “Narcopolis.” Also making the shortlist are Musharraf Ali Farooqi of Pakistan’s “Between Caly and Dust” and “The Briefcase” by Japan’s Hiromi Kawakami. This year’s winner will hail from a country that has never produced a prize before: Three of the past five winners have come from China, one from the Philippines and one from South Korea. Though India has always had a representative on the shortlist, it has yet to produce a winner. The Man Asian award focuses on novels by an Asian writer, either in English or translated into English, published in the previous calendar year. Its winner receives a prize of $30,000 and the translator, if applicable, $5,000. In addition, the prize can be a boon for sales: Last year’s winning novel, “Please Look After Mom” by South Korea’s Kyung-sook Shin, has gone on to sell more than 2 million copies globally. The prize’s winner will be announced March 14.
The five books on this year’s shortlist are:
“Between Clay and Dust” by Musharraf Ali Farooqi (Pakistan)
“The Briefcase” by Hiromi Kawakami (Japan)
“Silent House” by Orhan Pamuk (Turkey)
“The Garden of Evening Mists” by Tan Twan Eng (Malaysia)
“Narcopolis” by Jeet Thayil (India)
