Montrealer Miguel Syjuco has been long-listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize for his novel Ilustrado.

The Filipino-born Syjuco's novel, which has not yet been published in English, is among 21 novels on a long list for the $10,000 Man Asian prize.

"I was surprised! I honestly can't stop laughing," he told CBC News. "I go from toiling in absolute obscurity — thinking my work would never be read by anyone — and now the press is calling me! It's crazy for me."

Syjuco has been working as a copy editor at the Montreal Gazette and is founder of the online publication localjive.com.

He has already had interest from one publisher in New York for the novel, a murder mystery set in New York and the Philippines.

Ilustrado begins with a body found floating in the Hudson River in New York. The main character, called Miguel, returns to the Philippines to determine if the death was a murder connected to an unfinished manuscript.

The novel is about "the corrupt roots of power of the prominent Filipino families," Syjuco says on his website.

There are several Indian writers on the long list announced Tuesday, as well as three Chinese writers and four Filipinos.

Among the other Filipinos are Alfred A. Yuson, veteran of 22 books, for The Music Child, Ian Rosales Casocot for Sugar Land and Lakambini A. Sitoy for Sweet Haven.

Others on the list:

  • Melting Love by Tulsi Badrinath.
  • Ugly Tree by Hans Billimoria.
  • Banished! by Han Dong.
  • Neti, Neti by Anjum Hasan.
  • The To-Let House by Daisy Hasan.
  • The Afghan Girl by Abdullah Hussein.
  • To the Temple by Tsutomu Igarashi.
  • Something Wicked This Way Comes by Rupa Krishnan.
  • Leave Me Alone, Chengdu by Murong Xuecun.
  • The Story that Must Not be Told by Kavery Nambisan.
  • Love in the Chicken's Neck by Sumana Roy.
  • On the Edge of Pandemonium by Vaibhav Saini.
  • Midnight Tales by Salma.
  • Lost Flamingoes of Bombay by Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi.
  • The Last Pretence by Sarayu Srivatsa.
  • My Friend, Sancho by Amit Varma.
  • Brothers by Yu Hua.

The Man Asian Prize, in its second year, is an international prize honouring an Asian novel not yet published in English. The award is financed by the Man Group, which also sponsors the Man Booker Prize.

Former governor general Adrienne Clarkson, who chaired the inaugural Man Asian judges panel last year, is again chairing the panel.

Last year the prize was won by the Beijing-born author Jiang Rong with Wolf Totem.

The winner will be announced in November.