A tale of Asian authors

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."
It was May 2005, and I was on a European book tour with two other authors, Su Tong and Bi Feiyu. 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).
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."
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…"
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.

To know more, visit our columnist at www.vittachi.com