Authors from Asia
944 popular Asian novelists
This is a list of authors from Asia that were recommended for the Read Around Asia Challenge.
All the novelists listed below where born in Asia.
4. Abbas Khider Iraq 
10. Adeline Yen Mah China 
11. Adib Khorram Iran 
14. Aeham Ahmad Syria 
18. Ahmed Saadawi Iraq
19. Ahmet Altan Turkey 
22. Ailing Zhang China
26. Aki Shimazaki Japan 
27. Akimitsu Takagi Japan
28. Akira Otani Japan
29. Akira Yoshimura Japan
32. Akshaya Raman India 
33. Ali Al Saeed Bahrain 
34. Ali Araghi Iran
35. Alka Joshi India
40. Amin Maalouf Lebanon 
43. Amir Falique Brunei 
44. Amir Gutfreund Israel 
45. Amish Tripathi India
46. Amit Chaudhuri India
47. Amitav Ghosh India
49. Amrita Pitam India
53. An Na South Korea 
57. Anchee Min China
60. Angie Kim South Korea
61. Anita Desai India
64. Anosh Irani India
70. Aoko Matsuda Japan
72. Aravind Adiga India
73. Ari Folman Israel
74. Ari Shavit Israel
75. Arif Anwar Bangladesh 
76. Armijn Pane Indonesia 
77. Arundhati Roy India
78. Asako Yuzuki Japan
79. Asher Kravitz Israel
88. Ayşe Kulin Turkey
89. Aysegül Savas Turkey
90. Aysel Çalişkan Turkey
91. Azar Nafisi Iran
93. B. R. Ambedkar India
95. Bae Suah South Korea
98. Bahram Beyzaie Iran
99. Bakhtiyar Ali Iraq
101. Banana Yoshimoto China
102. Banana Yoshimoto Japan
103. Bandi North Korea 
104. Banine Azerbaijan 
105. Banine, Azerbaijan
107. Bapsi Sidhwa Pakistan 
109. Basma Ghalayini Palestine 
111. Behari Day India
112. Behrouz Boochani Iran
113. Beka Adamashvili Georgia 
114. Beth Nguyen Vietnam 
115. Betool Khedairi Iraq
117. Bibish Uzbekistan 
118. Bilge Karasu Turkey
120. Bora Chung South Korea
122. Bothayna Al-Essa Kuwait 
124. Bronwyn Fischer Bahrain
126. Burhan Sönmez Turkey
127. Bushra Al-Maqtari Yemen 
129. C. Pam Zhang China
130. Cao Xueqin China
132. Cassandra Clare Iran
133. Cassandra Khaw Malaysia 
134. Catherine Lim Malaysia
135. Chang-rae Lee South Korea
136. Chanrithy Him Cambodia 
137. Chelsea Abdullah Kuwait
140. Chi Zijian China
145. Chloe Gong China
146. Cho Nam-Joo South Korea
147. Choi Eunyoung South Korea
151. Chuden Kabimo India
152. Chugong South Korea
153. Chuya Nakahara Japan
160. Daniel Kahneman Israel
161. Daniel Nayeri Iran
162. Danny Ramadan Syria
163. David Grossman Israel
165. Deepa Anappara India
167. Deepti Kapoor India
168. Defne Suman Turkey
169. Dento Hayane Japan
170. Devika Ponnambalam Brunei
171. Di Lu Galay Myanmar 
172. Dima Wannous Syria
173. Dimitri Nasrallah Lebanon
174. Dina Nayeri Iran
175. Dinah Jefferies Malaysia
176. Dolki Min South Korea
177. Dong Hwa Kim South Korea
178. Doris Lessing Iran
179. Doris May Lessing Iran
180. Dorit Rabinyan Israel
181. Dorje Dolma Nepal 
182. Dorothy Tse China
183. Duanwad Pimwana Thailand 
184. Duong Thu Huong Vietnam
185. Durian Sukegawa Japan
186. Ece Temelkuran Turkey
190. Edward W. Said Palestine
191. Ehud Barak Israel
192. Eiko Kadono Japan
193. Eileen Chang China
194. Eka Kurniawan Indonesia
198. Elias Khoury Lebanon
199. Elif Safak Turkey
200. Elif Shafak Turkey
202. Elizabeth Ferrars Myanmar
204. Ella Leya Azerbaijan
207. Emily Nasrallah Lebanon
208. Emuna Elon Israel
209. Eshkol Nevo Israel
210. Esther Ahmad Pakistan
212. Etel Adnan Lebanon
213. Etgar Keret Israel
214. Eugenia Kim South Korea
215. Eusebius Pamphilus Israel
217. F.H. Batacan Philippines 
218. Fadia Faqir Jordan 
222. Fethiye Çetin Armenia 
223. Firoozeh Dumas Iran
224. Forough Farrokhzad Iran
227. Fumiko Enchi Japan
228. Fuminori Nakamura Japan
229. G.I. Gurdjieff Armenia
230. Galsan Tschinag Mongolia 
232. Gao Xingjian China
234. Geena Rocero Philippines
235. Geetanjali Shree India
236. Geling Yan China
237. Genki Kawamura Japan
238. Genzaburo Yoshino Japan
241. Ghassan Zaqtan Palestine
242. Gina Apostol Philippines
244. Glenn Diaz Philippines
245. Grace M. Cho South Korea
246. Grigoris Balakian Armenia
247. Gu Byeong-mo South Korea
248. Gulchehra Hoja China
251. Ha Seong-nan South Korea
252. Haemin Sunim South Korea
254. Haim Beʼer Israel
255. Haing Ngor Cambodia
256. Hala Alyan Palestine
257. Hamid Ismailov Uzbekistan
261. Han Kang South Korea
262. Hanan Al-Shaykh Lebanon
263. Ḥanān Shaykh Lebanon
264. Hanna Alkaf Malaysia
265. Hao Jingfang China
266. Haoji Chen China
267. Harini Nagendra India
268. Haruki Murakami Japan
269. Hasan Ali Toptas Turkey
270. Ḥasan Balāsim Iraq
271. Hasan Namir Iraq
272. Hassan Akkad Syria
273. Hassan Blasim Iraq
274. Haya Saleh Jordan
275. Hella S. Haasse Indonesia
277. Hiro Arikawa Japan
278. Hiroko Oyamada Japan
279. Hiromi Goto Japan
280. Hiromi Kawakami Japan
281. Hiromu Arakawa Japan
282. Hisashi Kashiwai Japan
283. Hisham Bustani Jordan
284. Ho Sok Fong Malaysia
285. Hoda Barakat Lebanon
287. Hua Yu, Yu Hua China
288. Humayun Azad Bangladesh
289. Huzama Habayeb Kuwait
290. Hwang Bo-reum South Korea
293. Hyeonseo Lee North Korea
294. Hyŏn-hŭi Kim North Korea
298. Iddo Landau Israel
299. Ihsan Oktay Anar Turkey
300. Ilā Āraba Mahetā India
301. Ilan Pappé Israel
302. Ilana Masad Israel
303. Ilham Tohti China
308. Iraj Pezeshkzad Iran
309. Ismat Chughtai India
311. Iwatobineko Japan
313. Izumi Suzuki Japan
315. J.L. Witterick China
317. Janet Trezise Timor-Leste 
318. Jang Eun-Jin South Korea
319. Jang Jin-Sung North Korea
320. Janice Y. K. Lee China
321. Janie Chang China
322. Jasmine Warga Syria
323. Jayant Kaikini India
326. Jean-Paul Sartre France 
328. Jenny Tinghui Zhang China
330. Jeroen Brouwers Indonesia
333. Jessica Zafra Philippines
334. Ji-li Jiang China
336. Jia Pingwa China
337. Jim Corbett India
338. Jimin Han South Korea
340. Jing-Jing Lee Singapore 
341. Joanne Ramos Philippines
342. John Gwynne Singapore
344. Jokha Alharthi Oman 
346. Jose Rizal Philippines
348. Joumana Haddad Lebanon
349. Juhea Kim South Korea
350. Jun'ichirō Tanizaki Japan
351. June Hur South Korea
352. Jung Chang China
353. Jungeun Hwang South Korea
354. Junichiro Tanizaki Japan
355. JUNICHIRO. TANIZAKI Japan
357. K. P. Yohannan India
358. K. S. Maniam Malaysia
359. Kader Abdolah Iran
360. Kafa’ Al-Zoubi Jordan
361. Kahlil Gibran Lebanon
363. Kakuzo Okakura Japan
365. Kamila Shamsie Pakistan
366. Kanae Minato Japan
367. Kanji Hanawa Japan
368. Kao Kalia Yang Laos 
369. Kao Kalia Yang Thailand
370. Kassem Eid Syria
371. Kathrina Mohd Daud Brunei
372. Kaui Shirai Japan
373. Kaveh Akbar Iran
374. Kazuo Ishiguro Japan
375. Keigo Higashino Japan
376. Keiji Nakazawa Japan
377. Keikichi Ōsaka Japan
378. Kelly Yang China
380. Kenji Miyazawa Japan
381. Kenzaburo Oe Japan
384. Kevin Kwan Singapore
387. Khaled Khalifa Syria
388. Khalid Nawisa Afghanistan 
389. Khalil Gibran Lebanon
391. Khurrum Rahman Pakistan
392. Kikuko Tsumura Japan
393. Kim Jiyun South Korea
395. Kim Soom South Korea
397. Kim Un-Su South Korea
398. Kim Young-ha South Korea
399. KIM. HYE-JIN South Korea
400. Kiran Desai India
401. Kirstin Chen Singapore
402. Kiyoko Murata Japan
404. Koogi South Korea
405. Kōshun Takami Japan
406. Kotaro Isaka Japan
407. Kummam Al-Maadeed Qatar 
408. Kunzang Choden Bhutan 
409. Kurban Said Azerbaijan
410. Kushanava Choudhury India
411. Kwon Yeo-sun South Korea
413. Kyŏng-suk Sin South Korea
420. Lavie Tidhar Israel
421. Layla AlAmmar Kuwait
423. Leigh Bardugo Israel
425. Leo Vardiashvili Georgia
426. Leonardo Acosta Cuba 
429. Lilian Lee China
430. Linda Rui Feng China
433. Liyana Dhamirah Singapore
434. Lodongijn Tüdew Mongolia
437. Luís Cardoso Timor-Leste
440. Luís Cardoso Timor-Leste
441. Luma Mufleh Jordan
446. Madhuri Vijay India
448. Mahāśvetā Debī Bangladesh
450. Mahbod Seraji Iran
451. Mahmoud Darwish Palestine
453. Maḥmūd Dawlatʹābādī Iran
454. Mahnaz Afkhami Iran
455. Mai Al-Nakib Kuwait
456. Mai Mochizuki Japan
457. Mai Nardone Thailand
458. Mai Neng Moua Laos
459. Malala Yousafzai Pakistan
460. Malinda Lo China
461. Manada Devi India
462. Manal Sharif Saudi Arabia 
463. Manjushree Thapa Nepal
464. Marguerite Duras Vietnam
465. Maria Dermout Indonesia
466. Mariam Petrosyan Armenia
467. Marie Kondo Japan
471. Marjan Kamali Iran
472. Marjan Kamali Turkey
473. Marjane Satrapi Iran
474. Marylyn Tan Singapore
475. Masaji Ishikawa Japan
476. Masuma Hasan Pakistan
477. Mazen Maarouf, Tasnim Abutabikh, Emad El-Din Aysha, Selma Dabbagh, Saleem Haddad, Anwar Hamed, Majd Kayyal, etc Palestine
478. Meena Kandasami India
479. Megha Majumdar India
480. Meir Shalev Israel
482. Melissa Fu China
484. Mi-Ye Lee South Korea
485. Mia Alvar Philippines
488. Michal Ben-Naftali Israel
492. Michihiko Hachiya Japan
493. Michiko Aoyama Japan
494. Mieko Kawakami Japan
495. Miguel Syjuco Philippines
496. Milorad Pavic Serbia 
497. Min Jin Lee South Korea
498. Minae Mizumura Japan
499. Mineko Iwasaki Japan
500. Mirza Athar Baig Pakistan
502. Mizuho Kusanagi Japan
503. Mizuki Tsujimura Japan
504. Mo Xiang Tong Xiu China
507. Modris Eksteins Latvia 
511. Mohammed Al Samawi Yemen
513. Mohammed Hanif Pakistan
515. Mohsin Hamid Pakistan
516. Mojgan Ghazirad Iran
517. Molly X. Chang China
518. Monica Ali Bangladesh
520. Morio Kita Japan
521. Mosab Abu Toha Palestine
524. Moustafa Khalifa Syria
525. Muhammad Yunus Bangladesh
526. Muḥsin Ramlī Iraq
528. Mukhtar Mai Pakistan
530. Murasaki Shikibu Japan
531. Nada A. Jarrar Lebanon
532. Nadeem Aslam Pakistan
533. Nadia Hashimi Afghanistan
535. Nagaru Tanigawa Japan
536. Nagisa Tatsumi Japan
538. Nahoko Uehashi Japan
539. Najwa Barakat Lebanon
541. Najwa Zebian Lebanon
542. Nami Mun South Korea
544. Nanako Hanada Japan
545. Nancy Kricorian Armenia
546. Naoko Takeuchi Japan
547. Narayan Wagle Nepal
548. Narine Abgarian Armenia
549. Narine Abgaryan Armenia
552. Natasha Sondakh Indonesia
555. Natsuko Imamura Japan
556. Natsume Soseki Japan
557. Natsuo Kirino Japan
559. Nayrouz Qarmout Syria
560. Nazim Hikmet Turkey
561. Négar Djavadi Iran
564. Nevo Eshkol Israel
565. Ngọc Thuần Nguyễn Vietnam
567. Nguyen Nhat Anh Vietnam
568. Nhã Thuyên Vietnam
569. Nick Joaquin Philippines
570. Nicola Dinan Malaysia
572. Nigar Alam Pakistan
573. Nihad Sirees Syria
574. Nilanjana Haldar India
580. Nizrana Farook Sri Lanka 
582. Noeleen Heyzer Singapore
583. Noor Al Noaimi Bahrain
584. Noor Unnahar Pakistan
586. Norma Khouri Jordan
589. Nujood Ali Yemen
591. Nur Masalha Israel
592. Ocean Vuong Vietnam
593. Oezguer Mumcu Turkey
594. Ofir Touché Gafla Israel
598. Omar Khayyam Iran
600. Ömür İklim Demir Turkey
601. Orhan Pamuk Turkey
603. Osamu Dazai Japan
604. Otar Chiladze Georgia
606. Oum Suphany Cambodia
607. Outhine Bounyavong Laos
610. Ozge Samanci Turkey
611. Padma lakshmi India
613. Pai Hsien-yung China
615. Parini Shroff India
616. Parinoush Saniee Iran
617. Parīnūsh Sanīʻī Iran
618. Parnaz Foroutan Iran
620. Pascal Khoo Thwe Myanmar
622. Perihan Mağden Turkey
623. Perumāḷmurukan̲ India
624. Peyami Safa Turkey
627. Pierre Jarawan Jordan
628. Pim Wangtechawat Thailand
631. Prāpdā Yun Thailand
632. Preeta Samarasan Malaysia
633. Preti Taneja India
634. Priya Guns Sri Lanka
635. Pyae Moe Thet War Myanmar
638. Qian Julie Wang China
639. Qiu Miaojin China
640. Quan Barry Vietnam
642. R. F. Kuang China
643. R.F. Kuang China
644. Rabih Alameddine Lebanon
645. Rabindranath Tagore India
646. Radha Vatsal India
647. Rafik Schami Syria
649. Rahul Raina India
650. Raja Alem Saudi Arabia
651. Raja Shehadeh Palestine
655. Randy Ribay Philippines
656. Rani Manicka Malaysia
657. Rania Al-Abdullah Kuwait
658. Ratih Kumala Indonesia
660. Raymond Khoury Lebanon
662. Reimena Yee Malaysia
664. Reza Aslan Iran
666. Rin Chupeco Philippines
668. Rohinton Mistry India
669. Roja Chamankar Iran
670. Rokeya Hossain Bangladesh
672. Roma Tearne Sri Lanka
674. Ron Leshem Israel
676. Roselle Lim Philippines
677. Ru Freeman Sri Lanka
678. Rudaki Tajikistan 
679. Rudyard Kipling India
680. Rumaan Alam Bangladesh
682. Rupa Bajwa India
684. Rutu Modan Israel
685. Ryu Murakami Japan
686. Ryūnosuke Akutagawa Japan
690. Sabahattin Ali Turkey
691. Sabba Khan Pakistan
692. Sabina Khan Bangladesh
694. Sacina Kuṇḍalakara India
695. Sadeq Hedayat Iran
696. Ṣādiq Hidāyat Iran
697. Sadriddin Aĭnī Tajikistan
698. Sahar Delijani Iran
699. Sahar Khalifeh Palestine
702. Saleem Haddad Kuwait
703. Salman Rushdie India
704. Salwa Al Neimi Syria
705. Samar Yazbek Syria
706. Samir El-Youssef Lebanon
707. Samir Kassir Lebanon
708. Samira Ahmed India
709. Samra Habib Pakistan
710. Samrat Upadhyay Nepal
711. Sanam Maher Pakistan
712. Saneh Sangsuk Thailand
714. Sangu Mandanna India
716. Sara Shilo Israel
719. Sarit Yishai-Levi Israel
720. Saroo Brierley India
721. Satoshi Yagisawa Japan
722. Saud Alsanousi Kuwait
723. Saule Doszhan Kazakhstan 
724. Sayaka Murata Japan
728. Sei Shōnagon Japan
729. Seichō Matsumoto Japan
730. Seishi Yokomizo Japan
731. Sejal Badani India
733. Selçuk Altun Turkey
734. Sema Kaygusuz Turkey
735. Seong-nan Ha South Korea
736. Serhiy Zhadan Ukraine 
737. Serj Tankian Armenia
739. Shahad Al Rawi Iraq
740. Shahla Ujayli Syria
742. Shahrnush Parsipur Iran
744. Shamini Flint Malaysia
745. Shappi Khorsandi Iran
746. Sharlene Teo Singapore
747. Shashi Tharoor India
749. Sheikha Helawy Palestine
750. Shifra Horn Israel
752. Shion Miura Japan
753. Shirin Ebadi Iran
754. Shirō Hamao Japan
756. Shoji Morimoto Japan
757. Shokoofeh Azar Iran
758. Sholeh Rezazadeh Iran
759. Shrilal Shukla India
760. Shuang Xuetao China
761. Shubhangi Swarup India
762. Shum, Desmond China
763. Shūsaku Endō Japan
764. SHUSHAN. AVAGYAN Armenia
765. Shveta Thakrar India
768. Siba Shakib Iran
773. Sin-Leqi-Unninni Iraq
774. Sinan Antoon Iraq
775. Singshong South Korea
778. Sok Fong Ho Malaysia
780. Somaly Mam Cambodia
782. Soniah Kamal Pakistan
783. Sonny Liew Malaysia
784. Sophia Al-Maria Qatar
785. Soseki Natsume Japan
786. Sosuke Natsukawa Japan
789. Stephanie Foo Malaysia
791. Suad Amiry Palestine
793. Sue Lynn Tan Malaysia
795. Sulari Gentill Sri Lanka
796. Sulochana Manandhar Nepal
798. Sun-mi Hwang South Korea
799. Sun-Ok Yi North Korea
800. Sungju Lee North Korea
801. Sunisa Manning Thailand
802. Sunjeev Sahota India
803. Susan Abulhawa Kuwait
805. Ta-wei Chi China
806. Tabish Khair India
807. Taha Kehar Pakistan
808. Tahi Saihate Japan
809. Tahmima Anam Bangladesh
810. Takashi Hiraide Japan
811. Takashi Nagai Japan
813. Talia Carner Israel
814. Tamara Chalabi Lebanon
815. Tamim Ansary Afghanistan
816. Tan Twan Eng Malaysia
822. Taslima Nasrin Bangladesh
823. Tatsuya Endo Japan
824. Tehmina Durrani Pakistan
826. Teresa Lim Singapore
827. Tessa Afshar Iran
828. Tezer Özlü Turkey
829. Thanhhà Lai Vietnam
831. Thea Guanzon Philippines
833. Thị Hoài Phạm Vietnam
834. Thich Nhat Hanh Vietnam
835. Thrity Umrigar India
836. Thu Huong Duong Vietnam
840. Tian Veasna Cambodia
841. Tiffany Tsao Indonesia
842. Ting-Xing Ye China
843. Tomihiko Morimi Japan
844. Tomoka Shibasaki Japan
845. Toshikazu Kawaguchi Japan
846. Trang Thanh Tran Vietnam
849. Tsering Dondrup China
851. Tsugiko Kubo Japan
852. Tsugumi Ohba Japan
854. Uday Prakash India
855. Ulfat Idilbi Syria
857. Un-su Kim South Korea
859. Urmila Chaudhary Nepal
860. Uuganaa Ramsay Mongolia
861. Vaddey ratner Cambodia
862. Vaishnavi Patel India
864. Vanessa Chan Malaysia
866. Vardges Petrosyan Armenia
867. various Afghanistan
870. Viet Thanh Nguyen Vietnam
871. Vikas Swarup India
872. Vikram Seth India
873. Violet Kupersmith Vietnam
874. Wajdī Ahdal Yemen
876. Wang Xiaobo China
877. Wendy Law-Yone Myanmar
882. Wu Cheng-en China
884. Xiaolong Qiu China
885. Xiaolu Guo China
888. Xiran Jay Zhao China
891. Yan Lianke China
893. Yang Jisheng China
894. Yangsze Choo Malaysia
895. Yaongyi South Korea
896. Yara Zgheib Lebanon
897. Yasar Kemal Turkey
898. Yasunari Kawabata Japan
900. Yeonmi Park North Korea
901. Ying S. Lee Singapore
905. Yoko Ogawa Japan
906. Yoko Tawada Japan
907. Yom Sang-Seop South Korea
908. Yong Kim North Korea
909. Yoshiki Nakamura Japan
911. Youngmi Mayer South Korea
916. Yukiko Motoya Japan
917. Yukio Mishima Japan
918. Yukito Ayatsuji Japan
919. Yuko Tsushima Japan
920. Yun Ko-Eun South Korea
921. Yusra Mardini Syria
922. Yuval Noah Harari Israel
924. Zaina Arafat Palestine
925. Zarah Ghahramani Iran
927. Zayd Muṭīʻ Dammāj Yemen
929. Zeina Abirached Lebanon
931. Zeruya Shalev Israel
933. Zing Tsjeng Singapore
934. Zou Jingzhi China
935. Zoulfa Katouh Syria
936. Zubair Ahmad Pakistan
938. أسامة المسلم Saudi Arabia
939. جهاد الترباني Palestine
944. 김효은 South Korea