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BOOKS The Man group, of Booker prize fame, announces a new literary award for Asian work.

A new literary prize for Asian authors has been launched by the London based Man group, a finanicial and trading conglomerate. The prize announced in Hong Kong last week, is a joint venture between Man Group and Hong Kong Literary Festival and will be called the Man Asian Literary Prize.

The Man Group is also the sponsor of the Booker Prize for fiction and the Booker International Prize, which have since been renamed the Man Booker Prize and the Man Booker International Prize. The Hong Kong International Literary Festival is also sponsored by Man Investments, a group firm.

The award will seek entries from Asian writers for works that are yet to be published in English. The prize is intended to provide a broader platform for the cream of new Asian literature to be brought to the attention of the English-reading audiences around the world, the company said.

"Through this new prize, we aim to foster the publication of new Asian voices in English and to help make those voices more widely heard. One of the most important tasks facing our wor ld in recent times has been to ensure that English-speaking people have a better understanding of Asian society and culture. We hope this prize will encourage that activity," the company said.

Peter Gordon, director of the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, said Asian writers were becoming increasingly significant on the world literary scene.

"Asia is becoming an important source for new writing for major international publishers and this award will help facilitate publishing and translating of Asian literature into English. Since the purpose of this prize is to facilitate publication and translation, rather than to merely reward existing publication activity, the prize will focus on new works, as yet unpublished in English," Gordon said.

The Man Asian Literary Prize will be administered by a new and independent non-profit entity. The judging panel will be drawn from international literary and academic communities.

"The Man Asian Literary Prize is focused on Asia, as distinct from the Asia-Pacific/Pacific Rim. It is based in Asia and it will be for currently unpublished works with the explicit objective of encouraging the publication of more works by Asian writers," said Vineet Bhatnagar, managing director of Man Financials, a subsidiary that has a presence on the Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange, as well as the MCX and NCDEX, India's two commodity exchanges.

Further details, including application procedures, eligibility criteria and prize money will be finalised over the coming months and will be announced later in the year, Bhatnagar said.

While Indian writers would welcome such a prize, don't expect them to give up on their dreams of the Booker.