HONG KONG: Asia’s literary scene must overcome the obstacles of short-sighted publishers and a dearth of translators if it wants to exploit the promising shoots of growth.

That’s the message from both publishers and authors after the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize, awarded on Nov 10, highlighted the emergence of writers who are transcending cliches and stereotypes that dominate much of the culture produced about the region.

The winner of the first Man Asian prize was ‘Wolf Totem’, a novel based on the experiences of Chinese intellectual Jiang Rong during the devastating years of China’s Cultural Revolution.

While that period in the 1960s and 1970s has entered the literary lexicon as one of modern China’s cultural cliches, organisers say Jiang’s first novel avoids trudging along the well-trodden path of repression and suffering.

Focusing instead on the relationships between nomads, settlers, animals and nature in the remote northern Chinese countryside, Jiang draws on the 11 years he spent in the Inner Mongolia region as part of the first wave of intellectuals who volunteered to relocate to remote parts of the country.

According to its publishers, it has become the country’s biggest selling contemporary novel since its release in 2004, and will be published in English in March 2008.

“The books are not all family novels, or simply about concubines or the Cultural Revolution,” Adrienne Clarkson, chair of judges said of the contenders for the award.

Moreover, other shortlisted novels took subjects ranging from wrongly-identified bodies being flown into the Philippines, and the mysterious murder of a member of one of New Delhi’s leading families.

While the award also aims to spur sales, it has highlighted the obstacles Asian writers face.

“The greatest problem is finding a good translator. It lives and dies simply in the translation,” said Jo Lusby, general manager of Penguin in Beijing.—AFP