An unprecedented seven novels have been shortlisted for the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize, including Kyung-Sook Shin’s Please Look After Mother.
A million-plus-copy best seller in the author’s native Korea, Please Look After Mother is the stunning, deeply moving story of a family’s search for their mother, who goes missing one afternoon amid the crowds of the Seoul Station subway. The New York Times has described the novel as ‘a raw tribute to the mysteries of motherhood.’
Speaking at a press conference at Man Group offices in London, Chair Judge Razia Iqbal said: “The judges were greatly impressed by the imaginative power of the stories now being written about rapidly changing life in worlds as diverse as the arid borderlands of Pakistan, the crowded cityscape of modern Seoul, and the opium factories of nineteenth century Canton. This power and diversity made it imperative for us to expand the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize shortlist beyond the usual five books.”
The full shortlist of titles is as follows:
The Wandering Falcon by Jamil Ahmad (Pakistan)
Rebirth By Jahnavi Barua (India)
The Sly Company of People Who Care by Rahul Bhattacharya (India)
River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh (India)
Please Look After Mother by Kyung-Sook Shin (South Korea)
Dream of Ding Village by Yan Lianke (China)
The Lake by Banana Yoshimoto (Japan)
The winner of the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize will be announced on Thursday March 15th 2012 at a black tie dinner in Hong Kong.
