The short list for the richest and newest literary award in Australia and Asia has been released by Culture and Arts Minister John Day.

Mr Day said the 12 novels longlisted for the inaugural Australia-Asia Literary Award, worth $110,000, had been narrowed to five.

“I am extremely excited to be associated with this new award which demonstrates the literary strength of Australia and Asia,” Mr Day said.

“The value of this award reflects the importance that the Western Australian Government places on the growth of our region, in all areas of pursuit.

“From an original field of 111 entries from across the world, this list includes authors based in the United Kingdom and America.”

The shortlisted works are:

·             The Lost Dog by Michelle de Kretser                                                     

·             Blood Kin by Ceridwen Dovey

·             The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid

·             Orpheus Lost by Janette Turner Hospital

·             The Complete Stories by David Malouf

The judging panel consists of three renowned authors and literary experts drawn from the countries eligible to nominate -  panel chair Sri Lankan born, Hong Kong based columnist and founder of the ‘Asia Literary Review’, Nury Vittachi; Pakistan born and multi-award winning author, Kamila Shamsie; and Melbourne-based literary critic, Peter Craven.

“The books are world-class, which made it very difficult to narrow the list to just five titles,” Mr Vittachi said.

“The sheer quality of the work has left us convinced that this prize project has been an immensely worthwhile undertaking. We were swept away by the compelling plots and unforgettable characters conjured up by the very fine writers of Australia and Asia.”

The $110,000 prize makes the award the richest in the region.  Where the winning entry has been translated into English, the author will receive $88,000 and the translator $22,000.

The Minister said the award was open to any book-length work of literary fiction published in print or electronically. The award is open to works written by an author resident in Australia or Asia, or which are primarily set in Australia or an Asian country.  Works must have been either written in, or translated into English and published in the preceding year.

“The winner will be announced at a gala awards ceremony on November 21 at Fraser’s Restaurant in Kings Park,” he said.

“This will also be the occasion at which we announce the recipient of the Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards Premier’s Prize.”

Minister's office  - 9213 6600