Beijing writer wins first Man Asian award for 'panoramic novel'
Beijing author Jiang Rong won the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize last night for his novel Wolf Totem - but he was unable to claim the award in person because of ill health.
The novel - about a Beijing intellectual who goes to live in a nomadic settlement in Inner Mongolia during the Cultural Revolution - was chosen from a shortlist of five.
The chairwoman of the judges, Adrienne Clarkson, former governor general of Canada, praised Wolf Totem as a 'panoramic novel' with a slowly developing narrative rendered in vivid detail that had a 'powerful cumulative effect'.
The retired academic won US$10,000, and the book's translator, Howard Goldblatt, received US$3,000.
The prize was accepted on Jiang's behalf during the ceremony at Italian dining club Cipriani Hong Kong in Central by Bo Lin, the novel's Chinese publisher, and Jo Lusby of Penguin Books, which will publish the English version next year.
Jiang had an ear infection and was advised not to travel, said Sue Gourlay, spokeswoman for the Man Group, sponsor of the prize.
Peter Gordon, chairman of the Man Asian Literary Prize, said it targeted works that were unpublished in English and aimed to 'raise the stature' of Asian authors and help them to get their works published and reach a wider readership.
The Man Group has sponsored the Man Booker Prize and Man Booker International Prize since 2002. It has also been principal sponsor of the Hong Kong International Literary Festival since 2003.
Ms Gourlay said the Asian prize had grown out of the festival and the company felt it was 'a good fit'.
The other shortlisted works were Habit of a Foreign Sky by Hongkonger Xu Xi, Soledad's Sister by Filipino writer Jose Dalisay Jr, Families at Home by Indian author Reeti Gadekar, and Smile as They Bow by Nu Nu Yi Inwa of Myanmar.
