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.