It begins with a body. On a clear day in winter, the battered corpse of Crispin Salvador is pulled out of the Hudson River-and taken from the world is the controversial lion of Philippine literature. Gone, too, is the only manuscript of his final book, a work meant to rescue him from obscurity by exposing the crimes of the Filipino ruling families. Miguel, his student and only remaining friend, sets out for Manila to investigate.

Miguel Syjuco, from Manila, is the author of Ilustrado, the debut novel which won the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize as well as the Palanca Award, the Philippines' highest literary honour. Born into a political family, Miguel ran away to become a writer and has eked out a living as a medical guinea pig, B-movie extra, eBay power seller of ladies' designer handbags, and an assistant to a bookie at the horseraces. He has done work for major international publications, most recently as a copy editor at The Montreal Gazette, and has a weekly book-review column called the Biblio-File on CBC's Radio Canada International. He has a master's degree in creative writing from Columbia University and is completing a PhD in English literature from the University of Adelaide in Australia. Miguel's current literary writing explores the possibilities of narrative fiction and examines the complexities of a Third World society involved in reckless decay and hopeful progress. Some of his goals in life are to have everyone be able to pronounce his surname properly (see-hoo-coh) and to introduce the world to the storied Philippine culture that is far more than just domestic helpers, Imelda Marcos and the guy who shot Versace. Part of the peripatetic millions-strong Filipino diaspora, he has temporarily alighted in Montreal. Ilustrado will be released in 2010.