Turkish writer and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk’s Silent House and Booker nominee Jeet Thayil's Narcopolis are among five novels in the running for the 2012 Man Asian prize.

Finalists were announced Wednesday for the $30,000 US prize, which showcases the best novel by an Asian writer published in or translated into English.

Montreal writer Kim Thuy had earned a place on the long list of 15 books announced in 2012, but her novel Ru — about her experiences emigrating from war-torn Vietnam — failed to make the short list.

The finalists are:

  • Between Clay and Dust by Musharraf Ali Farooqi of Pakistan.
  • The Briefcase by Hiromi Kawakami of Japan.
  • Silent House by Orhan Pamuk of Turkey.
  • The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng of Malaysia.
  • Narcopolis by Jeet Thayil of India.

Literary critic and journalist Maya Jaggi is chair of the judging panel. Her fellow jurors are Vietnamese-American novelist Monique Truong and Indian novelist Vikram Chandra.

“The Man Asian Literary Prize is the only award that places Asian authors from across the whole breadth of the region side by side and gives readers a fresh perspective on the best fiction from our part of the world,” David Parker, executive director of the prize, said in a statement.

The winner will be named March 14.