Here is our official line-up of nominated works for Pushcart Prize 2011:
Poetry (Selected by award-winning poet, Professor Joanie Mackowski. View our announcement of the shortlisted works here.)
1. "House and Man" by Nicholas YH Wong (Malaysia)
2. "Paradise" by Luisa A. Igloria (Philippines)
3. "The Irishman in My Backyard" by Trisha Bora (India)
4. "Television" by Sumana Roy (India)
5. "Bloodlines" by Cathy Linh Che (Vietnam/USA)
Short Fiction (Selected by Ms. Susan Abraham whose book, Call the Ships of Dar-es-Salaam, is now available on Amazon. More information about Ms. Abraham here.)
"Transcendence" by Guy Cranswick (Australia)
Guy Cranswick lives in Sydney and, apart from English, speaks French and Italian—and survival German. He has written screenplays, a novel, My Wife, My Job, My Shoes; and a collection of stories, Corporate. His short fiction has been published in Canada, the US, UK, Ireland, Israel, Singapore and Australia.
Susan Abraham writes, "I chose Transcendence because of the story’s highly original and brilliant study of painful inner journeys that seek to define an individual’s life with the advent of the sudden, tragic circumstance. The solitary discourse of a searching soul’s pursuit of existence or rather in the way that I gathered it to be, proved highly meditative and intriguing with its various puzzling perceptions, that makes such a story ahead of its time. I thought Cranswick to have been comfortable with his plot. He did not allow such a difficult subject to engulf him; on the contrary, the character’s painstaking patient thoughts moved me deeply. Here was a story with its satisfying closure, that welcomed honesty and humility, along the way. I liked the neat structure of each personal study that rose and dipped with an arresting enigma as Cranswick sketched different philosophical subjects, supplemented by various everyday actions. The character was desperate for answers and I pictured a rivulet rushing to meet its brook. I took away an unforgettable feeling of an exquisite if not lingering intrigue."
We sent Ms. Susan Abraham a shortlist of four short stories for consideration. This included Anita Kainthla’s "Heat, Hatred and Retribution", O Thiam Chin's "The Other Woman", and Smitri Ravindra's "Snakes and Fishes," which she described as "high standard. Each commanded a personal form and a subsequently individual flair."
Here are her individual comments on the rest of the shortlisted stories:
"Heat, Hatred and Retribution" by Anita Kainthla
I felt Anita Kainthla’s "Heat, Hatred and Retribution" was daring and merciless in its approach of characterisation which was excellent. I also liked the idea that Kainthla used the imagery of a scorching weather outdoors to compliment the visual violence indoors. This was a similar technique used by Indra Sinha in "Animal People", with its variety of ‘fire images.’
"The Other Woman" by O Thiam Chin
"The Other Woman" by O Thiam Chin is a painstaking and carefully-crafted piece. There was a real promise of the story becoming highly atmospheric and being placed in its winning element.
"Snakes and Fishes" by Smitri Ravindra
I liked "Snakes and Fishes" by Smitri Ravindra. I thought Ravindra to have real talent. A born storyteller where entertainment held the main focus. She cleverly maneuvered her story to introduce the right ounce of colour and intrigue.
Congratulations and good luck to our first batch of nominated writers. We mailed a hard copy of these works to the Pushcart Prize Committee yesterday.
Note:
Submissions to Asia Writes are open year round and works are eligible for nomination to the three anthologies (Best of the Net, Best of the Web, Pushcart Prize). If you would like to contribute, please read our submission guidelines. Previously featured writers are most welcome to submit new works.
Poetry (Selected by award-winning poet, Professor Joanie Mackowski. View our announcement of the shortlisted works here.)
1. "House and Man" by Nicholas YH Wong (Malaysia)
2. "Paradise" by Luisa A. Igloria (Philippines)
3. "The Irishman in My Backyard" by Trisha Bora (India)
4. "Television" by Sumana Roy (India)
5. "Bloodlines" by Cathy Linh Che (Vietnam/USA)
Short Fiction (Selected by Ms. Susan Abraham whose book, Call the Ships of Dar-es-Salaam, is now available on Amazon. More information about Ms. Abraham here.)
"Transcendence" by Guy Cranswick (Australia)
Guy Cranswick lives in Sydney and, apart from English, speaks French and Italian—and survival German. He has written screenplays, a novel, My Wife, My Job, My Shoes; and a collection of stories, Corporate. His short fiction has been published in Canada, the US, UK, Ireland, Israel, Singapore and Australia.Susan Abraham writes, "I chose Transcendence because of the story’s highly original and brilliant study of painful inner journeys that seek to define an individual’s life with the advent of the sudden, tragic circumstance. The solitary discourse of a searching soul’s pursuit of existence or rather in the way that I gathered it to be, proved highly meditative and intriguing with its various puzzling perceptions, that makes such a story ahead of its time. I thought Cranswick to have been comfortable with his plot. He did not allow such a difficult subject to engulf him; on the contrary, the character’s painstaking patient thoughts moved me deeply. Here was a story with its satisfying closure, that welcomed honesty and humility, along the way. I liked the neat structure of each personal study that rose and dipped with an arresting enigma as Cranswick sketched different philosophical subjects, supplemented by various everyday actions. The character was desperate for answers and I pictured a rivulet rushing to meet its brook. I took away an unforgettable feeling of an exquisite if not lingering intrigue."
We sent Ms. Susan Abraham a shortlist of four short stories for consideration. This included Anita Kainthla’s "Heat, Hatred and Retribution", O Thiam Chin's "The Other Woman", and Smitri Ravindra's "Snakes and Fishes," which she described as "high standard. Each commanded a personal form and a subsequently individual flair."
Here are her individual comments on the rest of the shortlisted stories:
"Heat, Hatred and Retribution" by Anita Kainthla
I felt Anita Kainthla’s "Heat, Hatred and Retribution" was daring and merciless in its approach of characterisation which was excellent. I also liked the idea that Kainthla used the imagery of a scorching weather outdoors to compliment the visual violence indoors. This was a similar technique used by Indra Sinha in "Animal People", with its variety of ‘fire images.’
"The Other Woman" by O Thiam Chin
"The Other Woman" by O Thiam Chin is a painstaking and carefully-crafted piece. There was a real promise of the story becoming highly atmospheric and being placed in its winning element.
"Snakes and Fishes" by Smitri Ravindra
I liked "Snakes and Fishes" by Smitri Ravindra. I thought Ravindra to have real talent. A born storyteller where entertainment held the main focus. She cleverly maneuvered her story to introduce the right ounce of colour and intrigue.
Congratulations and good luck to our first batch of nominated writers. We mailed a hard copy of these works to the Pushcart Prize Committee yesterday.
Note:
Submissions to Asia Writes are open year round and works are eligible for nomination to the three anthologies (Best of the Net, Best of the Web, Pushcart Prize). If you would like to contribute, please read our submission guidelines. Previously featured writers are most welcome to submit new works.
