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在线翻译:
szdaily -> Culture
Literary fest an opening-up for country’s authors
     2013-March-21  08:53    Shenzhen Daily

    NOBEL laureate Mo Yan is not the only author in China who deserves attention. The Bookworm International Literary Festival’s organizer said there is much more to Chinese literature than the internationally famous writer who was also a speaker at the festival in 2009.

    The two-week-long event, which will end on Friday, is aiming to reach out to new places, both figuratively and geographically, seeking to draw people’s attention to a lesser-known literary landscape: metropolitan China.

    “Books about rural China and ‘red’ China are the most-read and best-known — even Mo’s works are in this category,” said Vivian Wang, manager of the festival’s Chinese program. “But China has so much more to offer.”

    To expand its vision, the festival is featuring a number of authors — either new or established — whose work focuses on the country’s urbanites.

    Among authors attending this year’s event are Lu Nei, from Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, who writes wryly about the country’s youth.

    A Yi, a celebrated crime writer, shared insights with the audience into his fast-paced thrillers, which are all set in towns and small cities. Liu Zhenyun, a master of humor and satire, has written about how new technology enters into everyday life in “Cell Phone,” and the travails of migrant workers in “I’m Liu Yuejin.” He is a literary heavyweight who sheds light on the social problems of modern, urban life.

    Few of the Chinese writers participating in the festival have had their work translated into English, but Wang said their engagement enables a better understanding of the Chinese literary scene.

    Eighty authors from 18 countries are taking part in the Bookworm’s event this year.

    During various discussions, they shared their thoughts on big questions like the importance of literature, the future of novels and the possibility of happiness.

    Wang said the festival has always underlined and discussed crucial and unsolvable issues.

    The event seeks to reach people beyond the Bookworm’s stores in Beijing, Suzhou and Chengdu, and the BLF Caravan, series of events with acclaimed international and Chinese writers and thinkers, brought panel discussions, readings, music and plays to Shanghai, Chongqing, Tianjin and Ningbo in Zhejiang Province. Lionel Shriver, the American author of the Orange Prize-winning “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” was in China for the first time.

    “I don’t know how my books are received here. I’ve never had a Chinese reader’s letter before,” said the author, who had a packed room for her Caravan event March 10. “That’s why coming here is good for the author,” she said. “Otherwise you don’t hear anything about the book when it’s in another language.”

    During her session with members of the public, she discussed terrorism, writing techniques and culture shock. (SD-Agencies)

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