A panel of three internationally acclaimed authors and experienced literary judges named Chinese author Su Tong the winner of the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize for his work, The Boat to Redemption. The novel, translated by Howard Goldblatt, is about a disgraced party official forced to make a new life amongst the boat people resulting in revolutionary impulse.

 Omair Ahmad, Siddharth Chowdhury, Eric Gamalinda, Nitasha Kaul and Su Tong are the shortlisted authors for the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize, the leading regional prize for novels unpublished in English. 

A distinguished panel of judges selects a single work of fiction to be awarded the prize each year. Chaired by Irish novelist Colm Tóibín, the 2009 judges include Chinese American author Gish Jen and Indian writer Pankaj Mishra who was also a judge of the 2008 Prize.   

The Man Asian Literary Prize was established in 2006 to bring greater worldwide attention to Asian writing and authors. Works submitted for consideration must not yet have been published in English, although they may have been published in other languages. The Prize is jointly administered by representatives of the Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival, the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

The winner of the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize will be announced on Monday, 16 November 2009 at a dinner at the Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong.  The winning author will receive US$10,000 and can look forward to publication and wider recognition in the English-reading world.