MANILA, Philippines -- Filipino writers Alfred A Yuson, Rosales Casocot, Miguel Syjuco and Lakambini A Sitoy and their works have been included in the longlist of the prestigious 2nd MAN Asian literary prize.

The longlist of 21 works of Asian fiction was chosen from submissions received from all over Asia. These works are yet to be published in English from both well established and first-time authors.

Of the four Filipino contenders for the $10,000 prize, Alfred A Yuson is by far the most experienced, with 22 books, as well as poetry and essay collections, to his name. His nominated novel, The Music Child, tells of an American journalist who undergoes strange experiences in a southern island in the Philippines.

The three other writers from the Philippines in the running are Ian Rosales Casocot, with Sugar Land; Miguel Syjuco, with Ilustrado; and Lakambini A Sitoy, nominated for Sweet Haven. Sitoy?s fiction has appeared in anthologies in her home country and in the United States, Britain and other European countries.

In common with last year, Indian writers also have a strong presence on the longlist.

They include Anjum Hasan with Neti Neti and Abdullah Hussein with The Afghan Girl. Hussein?s The Weary Generations, an ambitious tale of social struggle in the partition era, was a bestseller in Urdu. Also in the running is the Tamil Nadu-born Salma, nominated for Midnight Tales.

Salma?s first poetry collection shocked conservative society, and in 2003 she and three other Tamil women poets faced obscenity charges and violent threats.

Along with three Chinese authors -- down from four last year, when the prize was won by the Beijing-born author Jiang Rong with Wolf Totem ? writers from Sri Lanka and Japan make up the rest of the nominees.

The prize is intended to lift the international visibility of Asian fiction and increase the volume of works reaching English audiences.

According to Peter Gordon, executive director of the prize, ?We were pleased that many of the works on last year?s longlist were published or are scheduled for publication, and we hope that highlighting Asian writers will have a similar effect this year and in years to come.?

The judges for the award are former governor general of Canada Adrienne Clarkson, who was also on the panel last year; Australian author Nicholas Rose; and the Indian writer and thinker Panjak Mishra.

The shortlist will be announced in October, with the winner announced in November at an award ceremony in Hong Kong.