We've had the Booker, won by Aravind Adiga for The White Tiger, and the now we move onto the next big literary prize, the inaugural Australia-Asia Literary Award. I value this award, not for the AUD $110,000 prize involved, but it has been a long time coming for such a literary award to cover this cultural region. I think it cool that this award acknowledges electronic publications. And I'm certainly happy that my favourite writer, Haruki Murakami, is finally eligible for an award I hope becomes internationally renown as much as any other.
Murakami did make it to the long list with After Dark, but he didn't get into the short list only recently announced.
The shortlisted works are:
The Lost Dog by Australian author Michelle de Kretser
Blood Kin by Australian and South African citizen Ceridwen Dovey
The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Pakistani and UK citizen Mohsin Hamid
Orpheus Lost by US-based Australian author Janette Turner Hospital
Complete Stories by Australian David Malouf.
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