Montreal resident Miguel Syjuco shot to literary prominence in 2009, when his then-unpublished manuscript, Ilustrado, won the Man Asian Literary Prize. This year’s longlist has been announced, and another Canadian resident “ Anosh Irani “ has a chance to nab the $30,000 (U.S.) award. Irani was nominated for his novel Dahanu Road, which was published here by Doubleday Canada.

He has some stiff competition, in particular from Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe, who was nominated for his novel The Changeling.

From Free Malaysia Today:

Authors from China and the Philippines also made the list selected from a total of 54 titles from 14 different Asian countries submitted to the judges, led by Brick Lane author Monica Ali.

“The judges have encountered the best of new fiction from across the region, from India to China, from the Philippines to Japan, and the long list reflects this diversity,” Ali said in a statement.

“As a reader I have been entertained, moved, and also informed “ new worlds have opened up.”

Irani will have to wait until February to find out whether he’s made the shortlist. The winner is announced in March. Read the Q&Q review of Dahanu Road here.