Five authors vie for Asian literary prize

By Edwin Chan

HONG KONG (Reuters Life!) - Five Asian authors will vie for $10,000 and potentially global recognition in the first Asian literary prize to come from Man Group Plc, the financial group behind the world-renowned Booker Prize.

The quintet -- shortlisted from more the authors of 240 manuscripts -- are relative unknowns outside their home countries, but the sponsors of the 2007 Man Asian Literary Prize hope they would gain wider appeal -- and get published more.

They include Filipino university lecturer Jose Dalisay Jr., author of "Soledad's Sister", and Delhi-native German translator Reeti Gadekar, who penned "Families at Home".

The other three candidates are Jiangsu, China-born "Wolf Totem" writer Jiang Rong, the prolific "Smile As They Bow" Burmese author Nu Nu Yi Inwa, and Chinese-Indonesian Hong Kong-native Xu Xi with her "Habit of a Foreign Sky".

"The greatest thing about the prize is that it recognizes Asia itself has a lot of successful writers who have something to say, and it may not quite be the same as writing about Asia solely or primarily from the West," Xu Xi told Reuters.

"I think this prize will help promote the native works of people who write about Asia itself, rather than immigrant stories," she added by telephone from the U.S.

The eventual winner will take home the prize money on November 10 at an award ceremony in Hong Kong.

To qualify, submitted manuscripts must not have been published in English previously, underscoring the organizers' hope of helping Asian authors get on the global map.

"Part of the thinking is to bring Asian authors to the attention of a wider English-speaking public," said Man spokeswoman Sue Gourlay, who added that it would hopefully help get the selected works published.

For the first time, judges will be selecting from works not published in English.

Man also sponsors the 38-year-old Booker Prize, which rewards the best novel of the year by a writer from Britain, Ireland or a Commonwealth country.

The Booker, founded in 1969, has gone in the past to a string of renowned authors from Salman Rushdie to J.M. Coetzee, but has been criticized for selecting dark and challenging works unlike the winners of other more populist literary prizes.

(Additional reporting by James Pomfret)