by Francis Paolo M. Quina
Author and creative writing professor Jose Y. Dalisay, Jr. made history as one of five authors short-listed for the very first Man Asian Literary Prize. The short list was announced on October 25 in Hong Kong. The new annual prize is aimed at recognizing and promoting the best of Asian literature to the world.
Like the Booker Prize, the Man Asian Prize honors single works of fiction, particularly Asian novels previously unpublished in English. The prize was first announced at the 2006 Man Hong Kong Literary Festival, and received close to 250 entries, many of which came from Indian and Chinese authors.