Miguel Syjuco’s Illustrado was awarded the second annual Man Asian Literary Prize.

Illustrado is a novel that touches on 150 years of often turbulent Philippines history.

“Ilustrado seems to us to possess formal ambition, linguistic inventiveness and socio-political insight in the most satisfying measure,” according to the judges.
Miguel Syjuco took home $10,000 cash prize.

Syjuco beat off competition from fellow Filipino Alfred A. Yuson for “The Music Child,” Indian writers Kavery Nambisan for “The Story that Must Not be Told” and Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi for “The Lost Flamingoes of Bombay.”

Chinese writer Yu Hua was also shortlisted for “Brothers.”

Via PDI