Miguel Syjuco, winner of the Man Asia Literary Prize last year, discusses the restructured prize, saying "the changes seem puzzling, but perhaps for the better."
When news arrived this week that the Man Asian Literary Prize would no longer be accepting unpublished manuscripts, and instead only published novels, dismay broke out among writers. On blogs, newsgroups, email, and networking sites, the communal shock developed into debate. On one side, the door through which Asian writers could try to reach Western readers seemed suddenly shut and the MALP, as it is sometimes known, stood to lose the very thing that made it special. Some writers asked: “Why should we even finish our novels?” Others wondered: “Now that only publishers can submit to the prize, what about us anonymous unpublished authors?” On the other side of the debate, however, the changes seemed to hint at burgeoning opportunities on a greater scale that we writers seemed to miss.
(Continue reading HERE.)
When news arrived this week that the Man Asian Literary Prize would no longer be accepting unpublished manuscripts, and instead only published novels, dismay broke out among writers. On blogs, newsgroups, email, and networking sites, the communal shock developed into debate. On one side, the door through which Asian writers could try to reach Western readers seemed suddenly shut and the MALP, as it is sometimes known, stood to lose the very thing that made it special. Some writers asked: “Why should we even finish our novels?” Others wondered: “Now that only publishers can submit to the prize, what about us anonymous unpublished authors?” On the other side of the debate, however, the changes seemed to hint at burgeoning opportunities on a greater scale that we writers seemed to miss.
(Continue reading HERE.)
