O Thiam Chin & Wena POON

SINGAPOREAN short-story writers O Thiam Chin and Wena POON are on the longlist for the 2010 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Prize, the world’s richest and most prestigious prize for the short story, sponsored by Cork City Council, Ireland. Now in its sixth year, it is awarded to the best new collection of stories of the year. Both were nominated for their second collections: O for Never Been Better (MPH Publishing, 2009) and Poon for The Proper Care of Foxes (Ethos Books, 2009). This is Poon’s second longlisting: her début collection, Lions in Winter (MPH Publishing, 2007/Salt Publishing, 2009), was also longlisted for the same prize in 2008. O will be appearing at the 2010 Ubud Writers & Readers Festival on October 6-10, 2010.

Other writers in the running include Richard Bausch, Laura van den Berg, Louis de Bernières, Belle Boggs, T.C. Boyle, David Constantine, Patrick Gale, Angelica Garnett, Alyson Hagy, Mark Illis, Billie Livingston, Lorraine M. López, Thomas Lynch, Martin Malone, Owen Marshall, Nuala Ní Chonchúir, Lori Ostlund, Ron Rash, Robert Shearman, Sam Shepard, Michèle Roberts, Peter Robinson, Helen Simpson and Tiphanie Yanique, amongst others. López was recently shortlisted for the 2010 PEN/Faulkner Award for Homicide Survivors Picnic and Other Stories. Ostlund recently won the 2010 California Book Award for First Fiction with The Bigness of the World.