TAN TWAN ENG

There has always been an inescapable objectivity in historical fiction—stories that are based off actual events that have occurred as well as those who lived to tell the tale. And for novelist which depicts the story of a prisoner of a Japanese internment camp looking to build a memorial garden for her late sister. It had been adapted into a critically acclaimed feature film and earned Tan the title of being the first Malaysian recipient of the Man Asian Literary Prize as well as the Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction. His debut novel, which is set in Penang and follows a protagonist of Chinese-English heritage during the cusp of World War II, had been long-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2007.