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2005 KIRIYAMA PRIZE FINALISTS ANNOUNCED
Award-winning writers and first-time authors named for international award
celebrating books from and about the Pacific Rim
SAN FRANCISCO (March 1, 2005) - Pacific Rim Voices announces today the 10 finalists for the ninth annual 2005 Kiriyama Prize.
Two Prize-winners, one for fiction and one for non-fiction, will be named on March 29, 2005. The winners will share equally the U.S. $30,000 cash prize.
At just 49, Ha Jin, winner of the 1999 National Book Award, is the only American and the most senior of the five finalists on the shortlist for the fiction Prize. Ha Jin's War Trash is up against the works of talented young writers originally from India (Rupa Bajwa for The Sari Shop and Perumal Murugan for Seasons of the Palm), New Zealand (Kelly Ana Morey for Grace is Gone), and Pakistan (Nadeem Aslam for Maps for Lost Lovers). First-time novelist Bajwa, whose book was also longlisted for the Orange Prize, is only 28. Morey, Aslam, and Murugan are all in their 30's.
"In previous years our judges have chosen as winners or finalists several already well-known authors such as Peter Carey, Rohinton Mistry, Michael Ondaatje, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, or Simon Winchester. To my mind, this makes it all the more meaningful when new voices get Prize recognition. We are delighted to be able to draw attention to some fresh, new writing that people might never have heard of alongside writers who have already received a lot of attention elsewhere," said Peter Coughlan, administrator of the award. "It will be most interesting to see whether this year's judges go with a new or an established voice, but every book on the shortlist is a worthy contender for the Prize."
The judges' choices for nonfiction underscore the Prize's unusual definition of the "Pacific Rim," which includes areas beyond the more common "Asia-Pacific" connotation of the term. The nonfiction shortlist includes Luis Alberto Urrea's The Devil's Highway, an account of a real-life drama that took place on the US-Mexico border, and Charles Wohlforth's The Whale and the Supercomputer, which incorporates evidence about global warming from both Alaskan scientists and indigenous Inupiat peoples. "The Pacific Rim, according to our rules, takes in the countries bordering the Pacific on all sides, as well as South Asia," explained Coughlan. "We hope the Prize will continue to highlight ideas and stories from all around the region." Other nonfiction finalists are: former BBC correspondent Philip Short for Pol Pot: History of a Nightmare; Masayo Duus for The Life of Isamu Noguchi, which explores the life of the Japanese-American icon; and Suketu Mehta, who reportedly plans to use royalties from the sales of his shortlisted book Maximum City to sue India's government on behalf of the city’s homeless children.
A fuller description of the shortlisted books including publisher information together with quotes from the judges about the books follow the body of this release.
Past finalists and winners include Sherman Alexie, Monica Ali, Peter Carey, Cheng Ch'ing-wen, Inga Clendinnen, Carlos Fuentes, Patricia Grace, Shirley Hazzard, Ha Jin, Rohinton Mistry, Michael Ondaatje, Ruth Ozeki, Andrew X. Pham, Elena Poniatowska, Shan Sa, Kerri Sakamoto, Pascal Khoo Thwe, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Simon Winchester, and Tim Winton.
The Kiriyama Prize is awarded annually in recognition of outstanding books that promote greater understanding of and among the nations of the Pacific Rim and of the South Asian subcontinent. Authors from anywhere in the world are eligible, provided that their work is written in English or translated into English, and that it relates to the nations of the Pacific Rim or South Asia in a significant way.
Pacific Rim Voices (PRV), sponsor of the Kiriyama Prize, continues to develop a family of projects celebrating literature from and about the Pacific Rim and South Asia. Author Gail Tsukiyama edits the book review section of PRV's WaterBridgeReview.org, a website featuring reviews of many of the books that are entered for the Prize together with author interviews and other resources. Recognizing the importance of instilling in young people an appreciation and respect for other cultures, the organization also sponsors PaperTigers.org, a website offering a lively, colorful presentation of children's and young adults' books.
For more information about the Kiriyama Prize and the 2005 finalists, visit www.kiriyamaprize.org, or contact Jeannine Stronach, Prize Manager, at 415/777-1628 or via email admin@kiriyamaprize.org.
THE 2005 KIRIYAMA PRIZE FINALISTS
The five fiction finalists (of 165 eligible entries) are:
Nadeem Aslam, Maps for Lost Lovers
A Pakistani born writer now living in London delivers his critically acclaimed second-novel. The book, eleven-years in the making, presents both an exquisitely drawn portrait of an immigrant family in England and a compelling story centered on the murder of two lovers. (Faber and Faber, UK; Alfred A. Knopf, USA)
Rupa Bajwa, The Sari Shop
A 28-year-old first-time author has already made her own distinct mark on the rich landscape of current writing from India. Bajwa's novel revolves around Ramchand, a poor shopkeeper in Bajwa's real-life hometown of Amritsar, northwest India. Ramchand's view of his lot in life is dramatically altered when he delivers some high-priced fabric to a wealthy family. (Penguin Books, UK; W.W. Norton, USA)
Ha Jin, War Trash
Already familiar to readers since winning the National Book Award in 2002 for his earlier novel Waiting, turns in a very different - but highly accomplished - work of fiction. In his new novel, Ha Jin has created such an authentically detailed, first person view of a Chinese Prisoner in a POW camp during the Korean War, that librarians might understandably misfile this one under "autobiography." (Pantheon, USA)
Kelly Ana Morey, Grace is Gone
Morey won the most prestigious literary award in her native New Zealand last year, but she has yet to be published outside her own country. Morey's novel, with its sprawling cast of quirky characters and her sometimes comic exploration of cultural identity, will appeal to fans of Gish Jen, Sherman Alexie, or Zadie Smith. (Penguin Books, New Zealand)
Perumal Murugan (translated by V. Geetha), Seasons of the Palm
Murugan's third novel focuses on the arduous lives of a group of lovingly drawn child characters with colorful names like "Shortie," "Tallfellow," "Matchbox," and "Stumpleg." Born into the "untouchable" class in Southern India, the children work as goat herders and face not only the universal difficulties of adolescence but at the same time heartbreaking hunger and dispossession. (Tara Books, India; dist. by Consortium in USA and by Turnaround Books in the UK)
The five nonfiction finalists (of 172 eligible entries) are:
Suketu Mehta, Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found
Mehta gives us an insider's view of his "hometown" of Bombay. To put a human face on the world's third largest city, Mehta employs a series of interviews with some of its citizens - gangsters, cops, and victims, the rich, Bollywood entertainers, and prostitutes alike. His deft narrative, as a review in The Nation said, "carries the full burden of his interlocutors' details and circumstances," resulting in a surprisingly empathetic and fascinating group portrait. (Alfred A. Knopf, USA; Penguin Books, India; Review, UK)
Luis Alberto Urrea, The Devil’s Highway
Urrea tells the riveting but disturbing true story of what happened in May 2001, when a group of 26 Mexican nationals tried illegally to cross into the U.S. through a brutally harsh stretch of desert in southern Arizona known as the Devil's Highway. Only 12 survived the ordeal. In the telling, Urrea criticizes many aspects of United States immigration policy and much on the Mexican side of the border too. He gives voice to the voiceless and much-maligned illegals, as well as to the border patrol officers whose thankless job it is to prevent their crossing over. (Little, Brown & Company, USA)
Charles Wohlforth, The Whale and the Supercomputer: On the Northern Front of Climate Change
This book demonstrates the author's healthy respect for the scientists studying climate change in Arctic Alaska. He shows equal respect for the knowledge that can only come from living in this harsh land for generations. Says one of the indigenous Inupiaq elders Wohlforth befriends, "They use science to prove things we already know." Journalist Wohlforth puts both points of view together making a compelling case for the existence of global warming. He explores the potential consequences of this for humanity and the environment. (North Point Press/FSG, USA)
Philip Short, Pol Pot: History of a Nightmare
Short brings his 25 years of reporting with the BBC and four years of research to bear in this historical biography. Here, Short attempts to understand how Pol Pot, a relatively promising youth, became one of the world's most notorious dictators. This important and engrossing book shows how Cambodia, supposedly a neutral country, was ruthlessly exploited by others, including the Chinese, Americans and Vietnamese. It also reveals how the United States helped, at one stage, to maintain Pol Pot's rule for its own designs against the Soviet Union and Vietnam. (John Murray, UK; Henry Holt & Company, USA)
Masayo Duus (translated by Peter Duus), The Life of Isamu Noguchi: Journey without Borders
Noguchi (1904-1988) was a sculptor who is best remembered for the sets he designed for choreographer Martha Graham. His elegantly sleek sculptures and public gardens also grace many sites around the world. Born to a white American mother and a Japanese father at a time when interracial marriage was still uncommon, Noguchi’s struggle to find his own cultural identity will strike an emotional chord with many contemporary readers. (Princeton University Press, USA)
Judges' Comments
"What's exciting, uplifting even, about this list of very distinct, creative works is how powerfully it affirms the universal appeal of great storytelling," said Alden Mudge of the California Council for the Humanities and this year's chair of the fiction committee. "Each of these novels draws on particular literary, cultural, and historical traditions to fashion a fictional world that will be unfamiliar to many English-speaking readers. Yet each in its own way, with great artistry and passion, speaks to our shared experiences of what it means to be human. That's the point of great literature, and honoring that effort is the point of our prize."
"We're excited about our shortlist, which features exceptional writing focused on both sides of the Pacific and ranges from the Arctic North to the arid desert borderlands between the U.S. and Mexico," said Karen Maeda Allman, chair of the non-fiction committee and events coordinator at Elliott Bay Book Company in Seattle. "These colorful titles give readers a real sense of the varied peoples and landscapes of the Pacific Rim."
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