Canadian writer Rohinton Mistry has been shortlisted for the lucrative Man Booker International Prize.

The celebrated author of A Fine Balance is one of 13 finalists in line for the award, worth roughly $93,000.

The list was announced in Sydney, Australia, and includes bestselling thriller writer John le Carre and crossover author Philip Pullman.

The prize is awarded once every two years to an author for his or her overall contribution to fiction on the world stage.

Canada's Alice Munro was named the winner in 2009, Nigeria's Chinua Achebe won in 2007 and Albania's Ismail Kadare took the inaugural prize in 2005.

This year's winner will be announced at the Sydney Writers' Festival on May 18. An awards ceremony will be held in London, England, on June 28.

Mistry's past accolades include the 1991 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction and the 1992 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Such a Long Journey. He won the 1995 Scotiabank Giller Prize for A Fine Balance.

The Man Booker International Prize is sponsored by Man Group plc, which also sponsors the Man Booker Prize for Fiction.

The winner is chosen by a three-person judging panel.

Panel chair Rick Gekoski said in a release that any of the finalists would make a worthy winner.

"It is, we think, diverse, fresh and thought-provoking," Gekoski said of the short list.

"And serves to remind us anew of the importance of fiction in defining both ourselves and the world in which we live."

The 13 authors on the list are:

Wang Anyi (China)
Juan Goytisolo (Spain)
James Kelman (U.K.)
John le Carre (U.K.)
Amin Maalouf (Lebanon)
David Malouf (Australia)
Dacia Maraini (Italy)
Rohinton Mistry (India/Canada)
Philip Pullman (U.K.)
Marilynne Robinson (U.S.)
Philip Roth (U.S.)
Su Tong (China)
Anne Tyler (USA)

courtesy: http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/books/story/2011/03/29/rohinton-mistry-shortlist-man-booker-international-prize.html