They've announced that Chinaman -- now also available in the US, as the Legend of Pradeep Mathew -- by Shehan Karunatilaka has been awarded the 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize.
This prize is awarded for a best first book by a writer holding Commonwealth country citizenship -- meaning writers from the Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe are not eligible (unlike the Man Booker Prize, for which they are eligible), while writers from Mozambique (that's right, Mozambique) are .....
This prize is awarded for a best first book by a writer holding Commonwealth country citizenship -- meaning writers from the Republic of Ireland and Zimbabwe are not eligible (unlike the Man Booker Prize, for which they are eligible), while writers from Mozambique (that's right, Mozambique) are .....