Filipino Author Syjuco Wins Man Asian Literary Prize
Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) — Miguel Syjuco of the Philippines won the second annual Man Asian Literary Prize for “Ilustrado,” a debut novel that begins as a murder mystery and expands into a family saga spanning 150 years of his country’s history.
“This is a life-changing experience for me,” Syjuco said in accepting the $10,000 award last night at a black-tie dinner at Hong Kong’s Peninsula Hotel. He recalled how he spent three years wrestling with self-doubt to write the book.
Syjuco, 31, was chosen over four other finalists, Kavery Nambisan of India (“The Story That Must Not Be Told”); India’s Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi (“The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay”); Yu Hua of China (“Brothers”); and Filipino Alfred A. Yuson (“The Music Child”).
The vote for “Ilustrado” was unanimous, said the chair of the judging panel, Adrienne Clarkson, who praised the book’s stylistic originality.
“It is very ambitious in what it tried to do, and it succeeded,” she said. “The book gathered fragments of reality, poetry and criticism and wove them into a family saga.”
In “Ilustrado,” Syjuco tells the story of Miguel, the acolyte of a prominent man of Philippine letters, Crispin Salvador. The author has been found dead in the Hudson River, and soon Miguel is investigating both his death and the disappearance of a manuscript about the corruption of rich Filipino families.
He winds up tracking Salvador’s life through his poetry, novels, memoirs, interviews and more, building a narrative that spans four generations of history.
`President’s Mistress’
Born in Manila, in 1976, Syjuco, has published poetry, fiction and journalism. While he was writing “Ilustrado,” people told him “maybe you should write something a little more conventional,” he said.
Syjuco currently lives in Montreal, where he works as a copy editor at the Gazette newspaper. In an interview, he said he has now finished his second novel, “I Am the President’s Mistress,” the story of a humble woman who clambers to the top of society and “had to make numerous compromises along the way,” Syjuco said.
Sponsored by hedge-fund company Man Group Plc, the Man Asian Literary Prize is designed to draw greater attention to Asian writing and authors.
Related Posts
