Kiriyama Prize

The Kiriyama Prize was established in 1996 to recognize outstanding books about the Pacific Rim and South Asia that encourage greater mutual understanding of and among the peoples and nations of this vast and culturally diverse region. The prize consists of a cash award split between the fiction and nonfiction winners. Each February, two panels of judges select five finalists in each category, fiction and nonfiction. The winners are chosen from among these finalists in late March. Along with the winners and finalists, the Kiriyama Prize also publishes an annual list of notable books in the fiction and nonfiction categories, which are also drawn from the judging process. Thus, each year, the Prize recognizes, celebrates and promotes a wide variety of worthwhile books. For more information, and to see the lists of nominees and other notable books eligible for this award, click on the The Official Kiriyama Prize web site Kiriyama Prize(no longer active — you can still find information on the Wikipedia entry).

[Note: No prize was given in 2003. After the 2008 Kiriyama Prize was awarded, the organizers chose to discontinue this annual award.]

The titles in this list are “hotlinked” to the library’s catalog, for all those titles currently owned by the Lincoln City Libraries. For titles not currently owned by our system, please consider requesting them through our Interlibrary Loan service. 

The Kiriyama Prize winners — 1996 to 2008

2008
Fiction – Lloyd Jones – Mister Pip
Non-Fiction – Julia Whitty – The Fragile Edge: Diving and Other Adventures in the South Pacific

2007
Fiction – Haruki Murakami – Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman: 24 Stories
Non-Fiction – Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin – Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace…One School at a Time [915.491 Mor]

2006
Fiction – Luis Alberto Urrea – The Hummingbird’s Daughter
Non-Fiction – Piers Vitebsky – The Reindeer People

2005
Fiction – Nadeem Aslam – Maps for Lost Lovers
Non-Fiction – Suketu Mehta – Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found

2004
Fiction – Sa Shan – The Girl Who Played Go
Non-Fiction – Inga Clendinnen – Dancing With Strangers

2002
Fiction – Rohinton Mistry – Family Matters
Non-Fiction – Pascal Khoo Thwe – From the Land of Green Ghosts: A Burmese Odyssey [959.1 Thw]

2001
Fiction – Patricia Grace – Dogside Story
Non-Fiction – Peter Hessler – River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze [915.138 Hes]

2000
Fiction – Michael Ondaatje – Anil’s Ghost
Non-Fiction – Michael David Kwan – Things That Must Not Be Forgotten: A Childhood in Wartime China [B K985]

1999
Fiction – Zheng Qingwen, various translators – Three-Legged Horse
Non-Fiction – Andrew X. Pham – Catfish and Mandala: A Two-Wheeled Journey Through the Landscape and Memory of Vietnam [305.8 VieYp]

1998
Fiction – Ruth L. Ozeki – My Year of Meats

1997
Non-Fiction – Patrick Smith – Japan: A Reinterpretation [952 Smi]

1996
Fiction – Alan Brown – Audrey Hepburn’s Neck

Originally posted December 2007
Last updated December 2016 sdc