Rani Manicka is a novelist, born and educated in Malaysia; she grew up in Terengganu

Terengganu

Terengganu is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Iman...

 and attended the University of Malaysia, where she received a business degree. After traveling, she settled in Surrey

Surrey

Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, frequently visiting her family, currently living in Petaling Jaya

Petaling Jaya

Petaling Jaya is a Malaysian city originally developed as a satellite township for Kuala Lumpur comprising mostly residential and some industrial areas. It is located in the Petaling district of Selangor with an area of approximately 97.2 km². On 20 June 2006, Petaling Jaya was granted a...

. Infused with her own Sri Lankan Tamil family history, The Rice Mother is her first novel, and it won the Commonwealth Writers' Prize

Commonwealth Writers' Prize

Commonwealth Writers is an initiative by the Commonwealth Foundation to unearth, develop and promote the best new fiction from across the Commonwealth. It's flagship are two literary awards and a website...

in 2003 for South East Asia and South Pacific region. Her second novel, Touching Earth, was published in 2004.