Filipinos dominate Asian literary awards long list

MANILA, Philippines - Four Filipino writers have dominated the long list of an international literary contest, which seeks to highlight Asia’s developing role in world literature. A strong showing from Filipino writers was seen out of the 21 works of fiction that were chosen from submissions from all over the region, a report from Guardian.co.uk said on Wednesday. The four Filipino contenders are Alfred Yuson, Ian Rosales Casocot, Miguel Syjuco, and Lakambini Sitoy, who with 17 other Asians vie for the $10,000 Man Asian Literary Prize that will be awarded in November 2008. Of the four writers, Yuson, who wrote “Music Child" is the most experienced. He has already authored 22 books, and gained international and local distinctions, including the Southeast Asian Writers Lifetime Achievement Award and a place in the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature Hall of Fame, according to the Philippine Literature Portal. Man Asian describes Yuson’s “The Music Child" as a story about an American journalist who undergoes strange experiences in a southern island in the Philippines especially after he encounters a half-breed child with the magical gift of song whom he meets again as a grown man after many years. Casocot’s “Sugar Land" is a story about Dumaguete City in the Visayas, of “its quirks and melodramas," said the author himself in his blog. Casocot’s fiction story is about three foreigners who reside in Dumaguete in Negros Oriental, and whose lives become intertwined after discovering each other’s secrets. According to the Philippine Literature Portal, Casocot has won several Don Carlos Palanca Awards and an NVM Gonzalez Prize for his works. He is a professor at Siliman University and a correspondent and columnist for several publications. Meanwhile, Syjuco’s fiction and poetry have appeared in national publications and anthologies. He co-founded and edited an online publication, Localvibe.com, according to Man Asian. His literary entry “Ilustrado" is about an anonymous email sent to the main character suggesting foul play in a murder that took place in New York. He then returns to the Philippines to determine if the death was connected to an unfinished manuscript of a novel about the corrupt roots of power of prominent Filipino families, which has disappeared. On the other hand, Man Asian said that Sitoy’s entry, “Sweet Haven", tells about a 15-year old bastard daughter who was abandoned in order for her mother to fulfill her dream of independence in Manila. The girl grows into a spirited teenager and the family who raised her is thrown into turmoil when pornographic footage of the teenager spreads through the internet and reproductions are being sold by sidewalk vendors. Sitoy has won awards in the Philippines for her short fiction and journalism, including a Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Award and a Manila Critics’ Circle National Book Award, according to Man Asian. Her fiction has also appeared in anthologies in the Philippines, United States, Britain, and Europe. Man Asian said the competition “intends to bring new Asian authors to the attention of the literary community" and “highlight Asia’s developing role in world literature." According to Guardian.co.uk, Penguin U.S. paid $100,000 for the translation rights of last year’s winner, “Wolf Totem", which is already a big hit in China, even garnering significant international attention. Peter Gordon, executive director of the competition, told Guardian.co.uk that his group was "pleased that many of the works on last year's long-list were published or are scheduled for publication, and we hope that highlighting Asian writers will have a similar effect this year and in years to come." KIMBERLY JANE T. TAN, GMANews.TV