Su Tong - Courtesy of Random House
BEST-SELLING Chinese novelist SU TONG‘s soon to be published The Boat to Redemption (Doubleday, January 2010) has been awarded the 2009 Man Asian Literary Prize. It is a picaresque, political fable set in a small town in eastern China during the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976. The book will be translated from Chinese to English by Howard Goldblatt. Su Tong is the second Chinese writer to win the three-year-old prize. The first was won by Jiang Rong for his book, Wolf Totem in 2007. Last year’s winner was Miguel Syjuco for his book, Ilustrado.
(Extracted and adapted from Eric Forbes’s Book Addict’s Guide to Good Books)
About the Author:
Su Tong is the pen name of a Mainland Chinese writer born in Suzhou and is now based in Nanjing. His real name is Tong Zhonggui. He is best known for his book Wives and Concubines in the West, published in 1990. The book was adapted into the film, Raise the Red Lantern by director Zhang Yimou. The book has since been published under the name given to the film.
His other works available in English translations are Rice, My Life as Emperor, Binu and the Great Wall of China (translated by Howard Goldblatt, as well) and Madwoman on the Bridge and Other Stories.
(source: Wikipedia)
About the Prize:
Man Asian Literary Prize is an annual award for an “Asian novel unpublished in English”. The Prize was launched in 2007 and is now in its third year. The prize aims to be explicitly Asian, rooted to the region and would be awarded only to writers originating and writing from Asia, rather than authors of Asian background writing from other regions.
The objectives of the Asian Literary Prize are:
- To bring exciting new Asian authors to the attention of the world literary community;
- To facilitate publishing and translation of Asian literature in and into English; and
- To highlight Asia’s developing role in world literature.
The Prize was initiated by the Hong Kong International Literary Festival Limited with financial support from the Man Group, title sponsor of the Man Booker Prize. It is administered by representatives from the Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival, the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
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