A tale of Asian authors

Proof that there are not many writers in the east

AT AN INTERNATIONAL book festival in France, the Asian delegation was very small: just three people.

A journalist from Paris glared at us, asking: “How come Asia has four billion people but only three authors?”

I told her: “Of course there’s more than three. There’s at least four.”

I told her about Jiang Rong, a first time Beijing author whose book had sold a million copies, not to mention an estimated six million pirate copies.

“You even fake your own products?” she said, shaking her head in amazement.

I replied: “Well, someone’s got to do it.”
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It was May 2005, and I was on a European book tour with two other authors, Su Tong and Bi Feiyu (centre and right in the pic at the top). As we trundled around France on trains, we were puzzled: how come we got more attention in France and Germany than anywhere else, including Asia?

Most worryingly, Bi had been writing for many years, and while his book was available in French, there was not one English edition.

My companions lamented that Asian authors in Asia got no respect or money. I told them that  my friends and I had asked the financiers of the Man Booker Prize to create an award for Asian authors, providing respect AND money.

They nodded politely but didn’t get excited. I couldn’t blame them. I didn’t mention this, but to be honest, the famous prize sponsor’s response had been, er, less than entirely positive. (They’d said “No”.)

But I was planning to keep asking until the answer changed. (This technique, pioneered by children, works surprisingly well with adults too.)
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The train arrived at a place called St Malo, famous as a lair for pirates, full of castles and beaches and men in piratical gear. (Thanks to my odd dress sense, I fitted in very well, not having to dress up at all.)

Our French host explained why people here liked Asian things: “We French like to experiment, to dip our fingers into exotic tastes.”

This sounded worrying so we backed away and told her that Asians were conservative types who were “seriously not into the whole finger-dipping thing”.
*
Fast forward six years to the present day. It’s now clear that while Asia has relatively few full-time authors, it has a huge amount of creative writing.

Consider this 2009 speech by Beijing official Li Baodong to the United Nations:

"China has never restricted freedom of speech. There is no media censorship. We guarantee full religious freedom, and journalists, lawyers, human rights advocates, have full freedoms. The public can express their opinions freely, and nobody will be punished or investigated for making opinions."

Surely this man deserves a Pulitzer for fiction?
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In India last week, a judge was sacked after it was revealed that he used a ghost-writer to compose his summing-up speeches. One presumes that court officials blew the whistle after noticing a fictional feel to his trial judgments.

“Harry Potter tensed as the three-headed dog lurched at him…”

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Anyway, the good news is that the Man Group eventually said Yes. The first winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize was the abovementioned Jiang Rong.

Last year’s award went to Su Tong, also abovementioned.

Earlier this month, I met Bi Feiyu at a dinner at which the latest winner was to be announced. “It’s been a long time,” he said to me.

Two hours later, he had won the title, plus US$30,000, and journalists were snapping his photo to appear in newspapers all over the world.

For Bi Feiyu, it really had been a long time.  Well done, old friend. I ought to say something serious and memorable at this point, so here goes: TOLD YOU SO.
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(Pic: Bi Feiyu, right, with interpreter Martin Merz)
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Technorati Tags: Man Asian Literary Prize,MALP,Bi Feiyu,Su Tong,Jiang Rong,Nury Vittachi,St Malo,Man Booker Prize,Booker Prize,Literary award,Asian literary award

Comments

[A. Writer]

Nice to get a glimpse of your real life. It's funny for someone who writes so much you actually rarely say anything about your work as an author . I hope in future you can give us more practical advice on the business side of being a writer.

[Lift Lurker]

Congratulation Bi Feiyu.

In Liftuania, we love books. We have annual book award. Winner gets respect and $15,000 bank loan (subject to collateral).

I hope Bi is pronounce "Bee". It is awkward in West to have name rhyme with "Bye".

Stranger at single bar: "Are you bi?"
Bi: Yes
Stranger: Me too.

[farah]

it's about time Asian authors get some publicity and magazine covers. we know what's happening in JK Rowling's everyday life, even what she eats for breakfast!

Asian authors should flaunt more!!!!

By the way...nice pictures Nury.

[Bianca Schlimm]

"A Boy Named Su!!!" (Johnny Cash)

Yes, Nury looks good as a pirate.

Actually Japanese and Indian writers and some Chinese hot girly writers are doing quite good in German bookstores.

[Nury]

Thanks for the comment.
Actually, Bianca, you are right -- there are lots of Asian authors in bookstores in Germany and France. Those two countries are outward-looking and interested in the rest of the world. Other countries are not. I wonder why?
Anyway, thanks for letting me write a serious column for once.
Even then, Lift Lurker writes something that makes me laugh out loud!

[Bianca Schlimm]

In my eyes it might be bad consciousness in Germany (for having been once so obsessed about being German)

Its funny though. If you say "I like people from all over" you meet people from all over and they start nagging about poeple from other countries.

[grandpa]

It looks to me , that the second picture is taken from Pirates of the Caribbean.
Then it was photoshopped and ended up looking like....
Humm
I do not remember who, but the face is familiar.

As for France , one must remember that in schools , we spend months drooling on books written by guys who did not necessarily travel, but talked in length ( books used to be measured in kilos , rather than by number of pages )about traveling , like Voltaire , Rousseau and the sort
We spent time dreaming on " Paul et Virginie", or "swallowing " Jule Verne's books.
So when a guy ( or girl) from those distant countries, publishes something , we are curious .. (Humm they are curious.. the french , I mean)
They read books.

I personally prefer to go meet them ( the Asian authors , I mean)

The result is the same, in a different way: ectasy!

[Lift Lurker]

grandpa, that is very good explanation of different kind of people and also why French are curious.

[rafanjr]

...and if grandpa starts writing his own posts we can call it "the curious aviation diary of the french man in the carribean"

[farah]

what about lift lurker's book title? 'thoughts in a lift"?

[grandpa]

@ Farah

It might be something like:
The Philosophy of the vertical motion in limited space
or

Geared up .....

or

How to raise your horizon when your field of vision is limited

or

A tunnel to space

[Bianca Schlimm]

or "tunnel of love"

or the human brain as a tunnel (meeting its transportation)

[Minkha]

Next time you see Su Tong, please say 'hi' from me. I was probably one of the not many people in Eastern Europe who wrote a dissertation on his novels :-)