The winning novel of the first ever Man Asian Literary Prize, known popularly as the "Asian Booker," has just had its official English-language translation launch.

Wolf Totem was a literary sensation in China when it came out four years ago, and now it's about to launch another giant wave in the English book world.

Author Jiang Rong, real name Lu Jianmin, won the first Man Asian Literary Prize in November 2007 for Wolf Totem.
(Courtesy Man Asian Literary Prize)

The story of a Chinese student living in Mongolia during the Cultural Revolution and learning about Mongol culture touched a nerve in Chinese readers and is expected to do well in the English-speaking world too.

Publisher Penguin shelled out $100,000 to reprint it in English, with a North American release of March 27.

"In one way it works as just an extraordinarily interesting and Chinese story that spoke to Chinese people in a strong way about a time that's very important in Chinese history," explained Penguin's general manager Jo Lusby at the book's recent relaunch at an English-language book store in Beijing.

"In another way it actually addresses very universal themes. It talks about subjects that are actually extremely accessible to Westerners such as environmental responsibility, human relationships with each other, respect for culture, animal relationships."

The semi-autobiographical book by Jiang Rong, the pen name for retired professor of political economics Lu Jianmin, centres on a Chinese student who learns lessons about nature, animals and culture from the people he encounters in Mongolia's countryside.

Howard Goldblatt, who translated Wolf Totem, says the book transcends cultural differences and resonates in today's world.

"In this novel when the one wolf loses its freedom it really just loses everything," Goldblatt told CBC Radio. "And I think China is looking at these issues of freedom, and freedom of expression, freedom to do all sorts of things and it's clearly moving in that direction."

Lu was born in Jiangsu, southern China, in 1946, and graduated from China Art College in 1966. A year later, along with many intellectuals during the Cultural Revolution, he ended up living with nomadic communities on the Chinese border of Inner and Outer Mongolia for more than a decade.

He returned to Beijing in 1978 and studied political science at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, eventually teaching at a Beijing university.

The author, who is known to eschew publicity, was not on hand to accept the Man Asian Literary Prize in Hong Kong last November. Canada's Adrienne Clarkson, who headed the jury, praised Wolf Totem as "memorable" and "a book like no other."

The Man Asian Literary Prize was created by Man Group PLC, which sponsors the prestigious Booker Prize for published authors from the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of former British colonies.