5 Novels by Indian Writers in Man Asian Literary Prize

December 29, 2011

Five novels by Indian writers figure in this year’s Man Asian Literary Prize long list. The personalities including 5 Indians are:

Jamil Ahmad (Pakistan) – The Wandering Falcon
Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh) – The Good Muslim
Jahnavi Barua (India) – Rebirth
Rahul Bhattacharya (India) – The Sly Company Of People Who Care
Mahmoud Dowlatabadi (Iran) – The Colonel
Amitav Ghosh (India) – River Of Smoke
Haruki Murakami (Japan) – 1q84
Anuradha Roy (India) – The Folded Earth
Kyung-Sook Shin (South Korea) – Please Look After Mom
Tarun J Tejpal (India) – The Valley Of Masks
Yan Lianke (China) – Dream Of Ding Village
Banana Yoshimoto (Japan) – The Lake
JAHNAVI BARUA (India) – Rebirth
- Jahnavi Barua is based in Bangalore. She is a medical doctor but has been writing fiction for the past seven years.
- Her first book, Next Door, a collection of short stories, was published by Penguin India in 2008 to wide critical acclaim, and her second, Rebirth, a novel, has been published by Penguin India in January 2011.
RAHUL BHATTACHARYA (India) – The Sly Company of People Who Care
- Rahul Bhattacharya was born in 1979. A cricket journalist since 2000, he is now a contributing editor with Wisden Asia Cricket and has been writing for the Wisden Almanack since 2003, when he compiled the series overview of India in England, 2002. He also writes for the Guardian.
AMITAV GHOSH (India) – River of Smoke
- Amitav Ghosh was born in Calcutta in 1956 and grew up in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and India. He studied at the universities of Delhi and Oxford and has taught at a number of institutions, most recently Harvard, and written for many publications.
- He is the author of several novels including the bestselling Sea of Poppies which was shortlisted for the Man Booker prize in 2008. He currently divides his time between Calcutta, Goa and Brooklyn.

ANURADHA ROY (India) – The Folded Earth
- Anuradha Roy has worked as a publisher and journalist and is now editor at Permanent Black, an independent press in New Delhi. She was the winner of the Picador-Outlook Non-fiction Prize in 2004. Her first novel An Atlas of Impossible Longing (2008) was shortlisted for the Crossword Award and has been translated into thirteen languages.
TARUN J TEJPAL (India) – The Valley of Masks
- Tarun J Tejpal is the founder-editor of Tehelka, a news organization acclaimed globally for its aggressive public interest journalism. He lives with his wife in New Delhi. His two daughters work in cinema and in conservation. (inputs Official website)