Tan Twan Eng on 14 March 2013 was announced as a winner of the 2012 Man Asian Literary Prize. With this, he became the first Malaysian author to win the most prestigious literary prize of Asia.
Tan Twan Eng won the 2012 Man Asian Literary Prize for his novel The Garden of Evening Mists. This is only a second time that the prize has been given to the novel written originally in English. The previous winners had won the award as English translations.
The Garden of Evening Mists set during aftermath of the Japanese occupation of Malaya won 30000 US Dollars from the shortlist of five novels which spanned over the Asian continent.
The five shortlisted novels from longlist of 15 were as follows:
• Between Clay and Dust - Musharraf Ali Farooqi (Pakistan)
• The Briefcase – Hiromi Kawakami (Japan)
• Silent House - Orhan Pamuk (Turkey)
• The Garden of Evening Mists - Tan Twan Eng (Malaysia)
• Narcopolis - Jeet Thayil (India)
The judging panel of the 2012 Man Asian Literary Prize was award-winning literary critic and journalist Dr. Maya Jaggi, novelist Vikram Chandra and Vietnamese-American novelist Monique Truong.
About The Garden of Evening Mists
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng is a novel about traumatic aftermath of the Japanese occupation of Malaya. It also covers the post-war insurgency against British rule. The novel covers themes such as love and atonement, disturbing co-existence of cultural refinement, barbarism and personal and national honour.
Previous years’ winners
The previous years’ winners are as follows:
• South Korean writer Kyung-sook Shin- 2011
• Bi Feiyu- 2010
• Su Tong-2009
• Miguel Syjuco-2008
• Jiang Rong-2007
About Man Asian Literary Prize
The Man Asian Literary Prize laid its foundation in 2007. The literary award is given annually to best novel by an Asian writer. The novel can be written in English or translated into English. It should have been published in previous year.
For selecting the winner, the judges select the longlist of 10 to 15 titles announced in December, which is then followed by the shortlist of 5 to 6 titles. The winner of the award is declared in March every year.
The winner is given 30000 US Dollars. The translator, if exists, is given 5000 US Dollars. The submissions for the best novels are invited by the jury through publishers in any country.
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