Man dumps Asian Literary Prize

       Here the Man Asian Literary Prize was finally getting its act together -- for years I would only call it the Man 'Asian' Literay Prize, because they didn't include many obviously Asian countries, but they responded to the criticism admirably and finally did the right thing (yes, authors from Kazakhstan (etc.) are now eligible !) -- and now their sponsor up and dumps them. As reported in The Telegraph, Booker sponsors Man drop Asian Literary Prize [via]. Apparently, Man wants to focus all their attention on that Man Booker Prize (the prize they handed out on Tuesday -- you'd think they'd have waited to make this announcement until after the Man Booker frenzy had properly died down -- but presumably they hoped that would just drown out this news); I'd suggest their washing their hands of this commitment has more to do with their long-term company share performance .....
       There's now already a Letter from Prof. David Parker, Executive Director of the Asian Literary Prize explaining the situation -- and they already only refer to it as the 'Asian Literary Prize', already dropping the 'Man'. (I also like how they include an e-mail address for 'sponsorship enquiries' ... good luck with that .....)
       No word as to whether Man is also dumping the Man Booker International Prize, which might also be more trouble than it's worth to them -- but while the Asian Literary Prize might have established itself well enough to stand on its own (and attract new sponsorship), I don't think the biennial MBIP has.