“Asian literature” is an umbrella term that I am currently using for all literature produced in Asia. Once the list of literary awards that I track grows it will allow me to slowly introduce separate categories for individual countries. However, at the moment news about all literary prizes awarded in Asia are reported under this heading.
To see all the latest literary awards news, see the front page of The Burnt Ones: Literary Awards News.
Kiriyama Book Prize nominees announced
Date: February 28, 2007 | Discussion: No Comments
Kiriyama Book Prize, a $30,000 prize that awards books “that promote greater understanding of and among the nations of the Pacific Rim and of South Asia”, has announced its annual nominations for best fiction. They are:
“The Inheritance of Loss” by Kiran Desai
“Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” by Haruki Murakami
“Stick Out Your Tongue” by Ma Jian
“Certainty” by Madeleine Thien
“Behold the Many” by Lois-Ann Yamanaka
Filed under Asian literature, English literature, Fiction, Novels, Shortlists
2007 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize shortlists announced
Date: February 11, 2007 | Discussion: 1 Comment
The Commonwealth foundation has announced the regional shortlists for the 2007 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. The annual fiction prize that rewards writing from the British Commonwealth is selected by first judging books from four different regional groups (Africa, Canada and the Caribbean, Europe and South Asia, South East Asia and South Pacific) with each including two separate categories (Best Book, Best First Book), each worth £1,000. Once the regional winners in these categories are chosen, they are pitted against one another for the final prizes (£10,000 for Best Book and £5,000 for Best First Book).
This year’s nominees include Man Booker Prize shortlisted authors MJ Hyland, David Mitchell, James Robertson and Naeem Murr. The full list follows:
Africa – Best Book
Native Commissioner by Shaun Johnson (South Africa)
What Kind of Child by Ken Barris (South Africa), Kwela Books
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)
The Wizard of the Crow by Ngugi wa Thiong’o (Kenya)
Playing in the Light by Zoe Wicomb (South Africa)
Song of the Atman by Ronnie Govender (South Africa)
Africa – Best First Book
All We Have Left Unsaid by Maxime Case (South Africa)
Ice in the Lungs by Gerald Kraak (South Africa)
A Life Elsewhere by Segun Alofabi (Nigeria)
Room 207 by Kgebeti Moele (South Africa)
The Beggar’s Sign Writer by Louis Greenberg (South Africa)
The Shadow Follows by David Medalie (South Africa)
Canada and the Caribbean – Best Book
The Law of Dreams by Peter Behrens (Canada)
Chutney Power by Willi Chen (Trinidad)
Fabrizio’s Return by Mark Frutkin (Canada)
The Emperor’s Children by Claire Messud (Canada)
The Unfortunate Marriage of Azeb Yitades by Nega Mezlekia (Canada)
The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro (Canada)
The Friends of Meager Fortune by David Adams Richards (Canada)
Canada and the Caribbean – Best First Book
Baby Khaki’s Wings by Anar Ali (Canada)
Vandal Love by D.Y. Bechard (Canada)
De Niro’s Game by Rawi Hage (Canada)
The Fear of Stones by Kei Miller (Jamaica)
Indigenous Beasts by Nathan Sellyn (Canada)
The Hour of Bad Decisions by Russell Wangersky (Canada)
Europe and South Asia – Best Book
Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra (India)
Miss Webster and Chérif by Patricia Duncker (UK)
The Sweet and Simple Kind by Yasmine Gooneratne (Sri Lanka)
Carry Me Down by M J Hyland (UK)
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell (UK)
The Perfect Man by Naeem Murr (UK)
The Testament of Gideon Mack by James Robertson (UK)
Europe and South Asia – Best First Book
The Saffron Kitchen by Yasmin Crowther (UK)
The Mathematics of Love by Emma Darwin (UK)
This Time of Dying by Reina James (UK)
Giraffe by J M Ledgard (UK)
Londonstani by Gautam Malkani (UK)
In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar (UK)
The Amnesia Clinic by James Scudamore (UK)
South East Asia and South Pacific – Best Book
Ocean Roads by James George (New Zealand)
Theft: A Love Story by Peter Carey (Australia)
Mr Pip by Lloyd Jones (New Zealand)
Carpentaria by Alexis Wright (Australia)
The Fainter by Damien Wilkins (New Zealand)
Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan (Australia)
Careless by Deborah Robertson (Australia)
South East Asia and South Pacific – Best First Book
Tuvalu by Andrew O’Connor (Australia)
Davey Darling by Paul Shannon (New Zealand)
The Fish & Chip Song by Carl Nixon (New Zealand)
The Long Road of the Junkmailer by Patrick Holland (Australia)
Poinciana by Jane Turner Goldsmith (Australia)
Filed under Asian literature, Australian literature, British literature, Commonwealth literature, English literature, Fiction, Novels, Shortlists
Nanae Aoyama wins the Akutagawa Prize
Date: January 17, 2007 | Discussion: No Comments
Nanae Aoyama has won the 2007 (January) Akutagawa Prize for her novel Hitori Biyori. The price, which is arguably Japan’s most prestigious, is awarded twice a year for the best story published in a newspaper or magazine by a new or rising author. Histori Biyori is not yet available in English.
Also the Naoki Prize, given to the best popular literature written by any young author, was to be announced today, but the judges have decided not to give the award out this year, as no work stood out as exceptional enough.
Filed under Asian literature, Fiction, Novels, Winners, World literature
2006 Guardian First Book award winner announced
Date: December 8, 2006 | Discussion: 1 Comment
The 2006 Guardian First Book award has been given to Yiyun Li for her short story collection A Thousand Years of Good Prayers.
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers
by Yiyun Li
In this extraordinary first collection, Yiyun Li brings us a modern China facing up to a complex history of repression and guilt. In “Immortalityâ€, winner of the Paris Review prize, a young man bears a striking resemblance to the dictator, and so finds a strange kind of calling. In “Extraâ€, first published in the New Yorker, a Chinese woman, alone in middle age, befriends a young boy who has become an outcast in a remote country school. …
You can read more about A Thousand Years of Good Prayers at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk
Filed under Asian literature, Fiction, Short stories, Winners, World literature
Haruki Murakami awarded Franz Kafka literary prize
Date: October 31, 2006 | Discussion: No Comments
The internationally popular Japanese author Haruki Murakami has received the Franz Kafka literary prize in Prague. The $10,000 prize was given to the writer for his worldwide appeal that the organizers compared with that of Kafka.
Murakami has often referred to Kafka as his favourite author. Murakami’s 2002 novel Kafka on the Shore (pictured here) even borrows the name of the title character from the Czech writer himself.
Filed under Asian literature, Fiction, Lifetime awards, Novels, Winners, World literature
2006 Akutagawa Prize winner announced
Date: July 14, 2006 | Discussion: No Comments
Winner of Japan’s most prestigious literary prize, the Akutagawa Prize, was announced yesterday. The award was given to Takami Ito for his novel “Hachigatsu no Rojo ni Suteru” (Throwing Stuff Away on a Road in August).
