Filipino writer top 5 in Asian Literary Prize

Jose Dalisay Jr.

The Philippines' Jose Dalisay Jr. is one of Asia's best authors. He was one of five short-listed authors for the 2007 Man Asian Literary Prize for his book "Soledad's Sister."

The competition was won by Chinese author Jiang Rong for his best-selling novel "The Wolf Totem." The $10,000 (P426,000) literary award was newly established to bring new Asian literature in English to the attention of the world literary community.

Dalisay, who writes in both English and Filipino, has published 15 books of stories, plays and essays, with five receiving the National Book Award from the Manila Critics Circle. He teaches English and Creative Writing at the University of the Philippines and has lectured on Philippine culture and politics at universities in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. He writes a regular column for the Philippine Star.

According to the judges, Dalisay's entry, "Soledad's Sister," was "full of narrative surprise, artfully put together and richly observed. It offers an unillusioned, compassionate portrayal of contemporary society from a Philippines perspective, and is utterly compelling. The characters engage us in the epic, yet very local nature of their quest for dignity and justice. A work of warmth, humanity and confidence."

Jiang's "Wolf Totem," first published in Chinese, is about the struggle of life during the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution and draws on Jiang's personal experience in the Mongolian grasslands.

The English edition of the book is scheduled for publication in March next year.

Jiang, born in Jiangsu in 1946, spent 11 years living with nomadic communities in the Chinese border grassland region.

The Beijing-based writer was not able to receive the award in person at the ceremony held in Hong Kong Saturday night because of ill health. But in a statement, Jiang said he was thrilled and honored that his Chinese story caught the attention of the judges.

"I spent 30 years thinking, and six years writing 'Wolf Totem.' During that process, I hoped to write a story that would appeal to the Chinese sensibility," Jiang said.

Adrienne Clarkson, who led the panel of three judges, hailed "Wolf Totem" as a "panoramic novel" of life in the Mongolian grasslands during the Cultural Revolution period.

"The slowly developing narrative is rendered in vivid detail and has a powerful cumulative effect," the former governor general of Canada said in a statement.

The three other writers short-listed for the prize included Indian writer Reeti Gadekar for "Families at Home," Burma's (Myanmar) Nu Nu Yi Inwa for "Smile As They Bow" and Hong Kong's Xu Xi for "Habit of a Foreign Sky."

The annual prize is sponsored by the London-based financial services company Man Group.

Man Group Plc is known for sponsoring the prestigious 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 writers such as Salman Rushdie and J.M. Coetzee