Maalouf wins Spain's Prince of Asturias award

Thriller writer John Le Carre asked Wednesday that his name be withdrawn from the shortlist for the Man Booker International Prize, disappointing judges who said they admired his work.The best-selling spy novelist was among 13 authors in consideration for the 60,000 pound ($96,070) literary award, which for the first time included Chinese authors in Wang Anyi and Su Tong.The chair of the judging panel, writer, academic and rare-book dealer Rick Gekoski said he received a statement from Le Carre only 45 minutes before the announcement of the shortlist in Sydney.

British thriller writer John Le Carre asked Wednesday that his name be withdrawn from the shortlist for the Man Booker International Prize, disappointing judges who said they admired his work.The best-selling spy novelist was among 13 authors in consideration for the 60,000 pound ($96,070) literary award, which for the first time included Chinese authors in Wang Anyi and Su Tong.The chair of the judging panel, writer, academic and rare-book dealer Rick Gekoski said he received a statement from Le Carre only 45 minutes before the announcement of the shortlist in Sydney.

British thriller writer John Le Carre asked Wednesday that his name be withdrawn from the shortlist for the prestigious Man Booker International Prize, leaving judges stumped about what to do.The best-selling spy novelist was among 13 authors in consideration for the 60,000 pound ($96,070) literary award, which for the first time included Chinese authors in Wang Anyi and Su Tong.The chair of the judging panel, writer, academic and rare-book dealer Rick Gekoski said he received a statement from Le Carre only 45 minutes before the announcement of the shortlist in Sydney.

British thriller writer John Le Carre asked Wednesday that his name be withdrawn from the shortlist for the prestigious Man Booker International Prize, leaving judges stumped about what to do.The best-selling spy novelist was among 13 authors in consideration for the 60,000 pound ($96,070) literary award, which for the first time included Chinese authors in Wang Anyi and Su Tong.The chair of the judging panel, writer, academic and rare-book dealer Rick Gekoski said he received a statement from Le Carre only 45 minutes before the announcement of the shortlist in Sydney.

British thriller writer John Le Carre asked Wednesday that his name be withdrawn from the shortlist for the prestigious Man Booker International Prize, leaving judges stumped about what to do.The best-selling spy novelist was among 13 authors in consideration for the 60,000 pound ($96,070) literary award, which for the first time included Chinese authors in Wang Anyi and Su Tong.The chair of the judging panel, writer, academic and rare-book dealer Rick Gekoski said he received a statement from Le Carre only 45 minutes before the announcement of the shortlist in Sydney.

Portugal bade an emotional farewell Sunday to Nobel literature prize winner Jose Saramago, as the country's president sought to play down a row over his failure to attend the writer's funeral.Saramago's death on Friday aged 87 has unleashed a massive outpouring of emotion in Portugal for the prodigal son who went into self-imposed exile in Spain's Canary islands following a row over censorship.

Spanish novelist Ana Maria Matute was Wednesday awarded the Cervantes Prize, only the third woman to win the leading literary award for works in Spanish since it was first granted in 1976.The 125,000-euros (169,000-dollar) award was announced by Spain's culture ministry.It will be given to Matute, 85, on April 23, in recognition of the anniversary of the death in 1616 of Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, the author of "Don Quixote" and Spain?s greatest literary figure.

Britain carried out assassinations during the Cold War, novelist and former secret agent John le Carre told The Sunday Telegraph newspaper.The espionage writer worked for Britain's domestic and external intelligence agencies during the 1950s and 1960s."Certainly we did very bad things. We did a lot of direct action. Assassinations, at arm's length. Although I was never involved," said the 79-year-old, whose real name is David Cornwell.He drew a distinction between Western spy agencies and their Soviet bloc counterparts in the way they went about it.