Author Archives: Zoe

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At 7:00 p.m. on December 6, Beijing time, the 27th event of the 5th China-EU International Literary Festival was held as scheduled. Dutch writer Daan Heerma van Voss and Chinese writer Liang Hong started a dialogue on the theme of “Complex Relations: People and Peoples, Past and Present”, and curator Zhang Weina presided over the event.

Daan Heerma van Voss (1986) is a novelist and historian. He has often been hailed as one of the front runners of his generation. He has written essays and articles for several national and international newspapers, such as NRC, Humo, De Morgen, Vrij Nederland, Das Magazin, De Volkskrant, Haaretz (Israel), Dissidentbloggen (Sweden), Svenska Dagbladet, PEN International, Vogue US and The New York Times. His novel Sunday Man was nominated for the Anton Wachter Prize in 2012 and The Land 32 was nominated for the Halewijn Prize and the Cutting Edge Award). Ultimatum was nominated for the Diamanten Kogel. He was also awarded De Tegel for extraordinary journalistic achievements. Showing Colours, his book on racism was bought more than 11,000 times in two days. His work has been translated in various languages, including Chinese.

Liang Hong, born in 1973 near Zhengzhou, Henan, in Liang Village, is a scholar, writer and professor at Renmin University of China. In addition to her book-length interview with Yan Lianke, The Witch’s Red Chopsticks(2002) and two works of literary criticism, Notes from the Outlying Provinces: 20th Century Literature in Henan(2008) and Diminishing Halo: The Evolution of Narrative in Contemporary Chinese Literature(2009), Liang Hong has also published two books of non-fiction about her hometown: China in Liang Village(2010) and Leaving Liang Village (2013). She has also published the novel Liang Guangzheng’s Light (2017) and The Four Forms (2020). Her many awards include the Eleventh Mandarin Chinese Media Award – annual essayist, the 2010 People’s Literature Award, the seventh Manjin Book Award and the 2013 China Good Book award.

This dialogue is closely related to the theme “Recovery / Reflection” of the Fifth China-EU International Literary Festival. At the beginning of the event, the host asked Daan a question about how he dealt with the conflict between the past and the present. Daan believes that the writer should show the conflict to the readers rather than solve the conflict. For example, in The Last War, he hopes to make readers realize that people always use the past as a perspective when interpreting some phenomena, but he does not find this. Liang Hong agrees with this. In addition, she mentions that some readers think that her Leaving Liang Village and China in Liang Village do not provide practical solutions to rural problems. However, she believes that it is also very important to make people have doubts about the countryside and feel the pain, conflict and existing power of the countryside.

When talking about the degree of freedom in the creation of fictional and non-fictional works, Liang Hong thinks that when “freedom” is defined as imagination, the creation of fictional works will naturally be more free, but if we start from the inherent freedom of creation, the two are the same. In her opinion, the creation of non-fictional works can help her probe into the inner life and bring her great pleasure. Daan believes that neither “progress” nor “freedom” is the purpose and coordinate of fictional and non-fictional writing, but only to let us have a better understanding of the world, life and others.

The host also asked Liang Hong how she dealt with the relationship between fiction and non-fiction in the novel Liang Guangzheng’s Light.

Liang Hong said that Liang Guangzheng’s character prototype is related to her father. On one hand, she has a lot of real material, on the other hand, she needs to extract elements from real life to serve her novels and themes. For Daan, because fictional novels are always exploring the unknown world, his writing process is full of confusion and uncertainty. However, because of the established writing objectives of non-fictional novels, there will be less confusion.

In the Q&A session, some readers asked Liang Hong whether people in her hometown had read her books and what kind of reaction they had. Liang Hong said that many people in her hometown knew that she had written Liangzhuang, and they were very enthusiastic and cooperated with her in the process of communicating with her. In addition, readers ask Daan questions for advice on young writers. Daan laughs that the only way is to write more and more till him find his own voice in repeated reading and writing.

The China-EU International Literary Festival has been held for four times. During the annual exchanges, Chinese and European writers have conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on various aspects of life and society, presenting a series of high-quality ideological collisions. At the 5th China-EU International Literary Festival, many outstanding Chinese writers and writers from 27 European Union member states will continue the literary dialogue between China and Europe.

At the end of the event, the two writers expressed their thanks to the organizers and maintainers of the China-EU International Literary Festival and wished that this literary journey could go further and further and help more readers appreciate the beauty of words.

By Ming Ming

Translated into English by Helen Qiu

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At 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, December 6, 2020, the Fifth China-EU International Literary Festival held its 26th literary dialogue, in which Bulgarian writer Dimitar Hristov talked to Chinese writer Wen Zhen on the theme of  “The Writer’s Life “.

Dimitar Hristov is a Bulgarian poet, playwright and literary translator. He was born in 1957 in Blagoevgrad and grew up in Sofia where he graduated in Bulgarian philology and rhetoric from St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia. He has worked for the Union of the Bulgarian Writers as a desk officer in charge of poetry-related issues, as chairman of the creative fund of the Union of the Bulgarian Writers, and editor-in chief of Bulgarian Writer Literary Newspaper. He created and presented the weekly Poetry Time TV show. He has worked as chief expert for the Ministry of Culture and was Director of the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Skopje. At present, Dimitar Hristov is Director of the Union of the Bulgarian Writers. He has won a number of national and international literary awards. He is member of the Union of the Bulgarian Writers and of the Union of the Bulgarian Journalists.

Wen Zhen writes fiction, essays, and poetry. She studied for a master’s degree at the Chinese department of Peking University and has published short stories in literary journals including People’s Literature and Dangdai. Wen Zhen has published many fiction collections, such as Eleven Flavours of Love (which includes the novella for which she received a Lao She Literature Prize in 2014) and The Last Night We Were Together, and currently works at an editor at People’s Literature Publishing House. A selection of her poetry was published in the Summer 2016 issue of Pathlight.

Speaking about the writing habits of the two writers, Dimitar first expounds that as a person, he is very introverted, but his work and life require him to remain extroverted. “I think that a writer in the process of writing is always a process of looking inward and looking for inner feelings, but at the same time, I’m also looking for outside energy to attract readers.” Therefore, Dimitar thinks that writing is a process worth exploring all his life, which requires the writer to seek both outward and inward ways of communication. There will be many surprises and temptations along the way, and literature is a good medium to establish connections between people. “We are living in a world where there are many temptations, especially material ones. In this process, writers can not only inspire themselves, but also give readers a lot of courage.”

Wen Zhen said that she regarded writing novels as a very serious job. Besides writing novels, she also wrote poems and other issues. In her writing, she would keep reading a large number of books in other fields. For example, she majored in finance at the beginning. Therefore, she often read some industry literature such as investment reports and so on, so as to get a more comprehensive understanding of the world by absorbing the contents of different fields.

When talking about the style of writing, Wen Zhen mentioned that she had been troubled by her style. At a certain stage of her writing, she felt that her style was being guided and reshaped by some new thoughts and feelings. “I believe that a really good writer will constantly polish and adjust his writing style.” But writers are usually only responsible for their own state at a certain stage.

Dimitar agreed that “style should not be the brand of a writer”, and he said that many writers want to achieve a certain style, but some of their own things will drag him to his original style. “The world we live in is very rich, and every writer has a lot of choices.” Dimitar compares the writer’s choice of style to a person walking into a clothing store, but the most beautiful is not necessarily the most suitable for him. If he forcibly buys it, he will bury his original style. “The style most suitable for a writer is the style closest to his ID and self.” However, some writers choose a new writing style, which is actually prepared for the next generation. Therefore, we should not blindly comply with the trend or market driven, “we should believe that our hearts and feelings are above the market choice.”

The host invited two writers to talk about the matter of the subject. Wen Zhen believes that the subject matter is not the most constraining factor for creation, but the most important thing for a writer to write is his current understanding of himself and human heart. Dimitar pointed out that art should have different forms of expression, and writers should not be framed by forms. “Life should be diverse, not just poetry, movies or folklore. What matters is how we find the best way to express what we want to say.”

What is the life of a writer after their spare time? Dimitar believes that the writer is also an ordinary person, and his life is no different from that of ordinary people. They should be able to communicate with all the people they want to communicate with, and they should also be able to look at the world from the perspective of others. “He can not only play himself well, but also play all the characters in his writing.”

Wen Zhen admits that when she doesn’t write, she will cultivate some hobbies, such as calligraphy. In her daily life and travel, she will talk to different people extensively and try her best to play the roles of a wife, a daughter and a good friend. In addition, she also has three cats as the adjustment and enhancement of her life.

In the Q&A session, the two writers shared the music, painters or film creators they cared about and appreciated. Dimitar got to know many friends in the association of creators during his student time, who often exchanged and created works together. Wen Zhen also met many friends in the creative industry in public activities such as film exhibitions and concerts. She believes that word creators can also learn some “second-hand experience” from artistic works of different forms and open their own sensory world.

The China-EU International Literary Festival has been held for four times. During the annual exchanges, Chinese and European writers have conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on various aspects of life and society, presenting a series of high-quality ideological collisions. At the 5th China-EU International Literary Festival, many outstanding Chinese writers and writers from 27 European Union member states will continue the literary dialogue between China and Europe.

At the end of the event, the two writers expressed their thanks to the organizers and maintainers of the China-EU International Literary Festival and wished that this literary journey could go further and further and help more readers appreciate the beauty of words.

By Xiao Yao

Translated into English by Helen Qiu

At 7:00 p.m. on December 5^th, 2020, the twenty-fifth event of the 5^th China-Europe International Literary Festival was held online. Horia Garbea, the Romanian writer, together with Stanley Chen, the Chinese writer had a discussion under the topic of “Diverse Genres, Translations and Cultivating Literary Scenes”.

Chen Qiufan (A.K.A. Stanley Chan), award-winning Chinese speculative fiction author, translator, and curator. He is also a member of WSFA (Science Fiction Writers Association), the President of CSFA (Chinese Science Fiction Writers Association), and has a seat in Xprize Foundation Science Fiction Advisory Council. His representative works include Waste Tide (2020 Locus best first novel finalist) and the collection The Algorithm for Life and others. Most of his works have been translated into dozens of languages. Now he lives in Shanghai as the founder of Thema Mundi Studio.

Born 1962 in Bucharest, Romania. Civil engineer, PhD graduated from 1999. He teaches as a professor at the Environmental Engineering Faculty in Bucharest. He has published many literary books since the Romanian Revolution (1989): poems, short stories, two novels, criticism and 16 stage plays. He has translated into Romanian many plays by Shakespeare (A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, Henry VI, Richard III, Macbeth etc.), Jacques Copi, Pierre Corneille, N. Machiavelli, Dario Fo, Eduardo de Filippo, Tennessee Williams, Marivaux, Normand Chaurette, Arthur Kopit etc. He has won many literary prizes for his work. He was the President of the Writers Association of Bucharest from 2003 to 2013, and now is the president of Bucharest-Poetry part of the Writers Union of Romania. He also works for Luceafarul de Dimineaţă, a weekly literary magazine Bucharest.

At the beginning of the conversation, Stanley Chen first introduced the development of scientific literature in China. From Liang Qichao to Liu Cixin, the writer of The Three Body Problem, the scientific literature slowly comes to people’s sight. Stanley felt happy with the progress scientific literatures have got and he also pointed out some problems. He mentioned Verne, one of his idols in literature area. And now, he is reading The Grace of Kings written by Ken Liu.

Horia then introduced the current conditions of Romanian literature and its changes in these years. he pointed out that Romania had a tradition that all the literary work in other languages would be translated into Romanian for the local readers to learn. And in Romania, there is a literary league for writers and translators to provide help in literature creation.

At the same time, Horia pointed out the inner connection within the Eastern European literature, which was influenced by the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 20^th century. It was also influenced by the Western European literature because among the Eastern European writers were a group of migrants. Stanley Chen also shared his reading experience of the Eastern European works. He said that he loved the works written by Stanislav Lyme and Ziolang because in their works had a unique power. Horia said that although Romania is a small country, it still has one or two publishing house in each city and the country welcomes diverse literary works.

During the Q&A session, both of the writers shared their private reading lists. Stanley Chen recommended the scientific books written by Verne, 2001: A Space Odyssey written by Arthur C.Clarke, Stories of Your Life and Others written by Ted Chiang and Intelligence and Wisdom written by Song Bin, while Horia recommended the poems written by the famous Romanian female poet Anna Brandiana and the novels written by Eugen Ulicaro.

A reader asked, “since Romanian writers have been influenced by the writers from Western European, how will you tackle with such influence? What is the most important feature of Romanian literature?” Horia answered, “there are various literature themes and genres in Romania. Only some of writers are influenced by them. About 40 years ago, Romanian writers were also influenced by literatures from Southern America and Spain but most of Romanian writers hoped to focus on the reality to write some profound realistic works. 30 years ago, Romanian poetry was again influenced by ‘the worst generation of America’. And later, Romanian writers once more faced with new waves so it is hard to make a clear answer to the question.”

The China-Europe International Literary Festival has been held for 4 years. Every year, the Chinese writers, together with the writers from Europe, discussed a variety of topics on life and society. Once more, in the 5th China-Europe International Literary Festival, excellent Chinese writers and the writers from 27 European countries will continue the literary conversation between China and Europe.

At the end of the conversation, both of the writers extended their warm greetings to each other and expressed their pleasure to take part in the festival.

By Zong Cheng

Translated into English by Sarah Sa

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At 5:00 p.m. on December 5^th, 2020, the twenty-forth event of the 5^th Europe Union-China International Literary Festival was held online. Mia Kankimäki, the Finnish writer, together with Zhang Li, the Chinese writer, had a discussion under the topic of “Travel, Memoir, Inspirational Lives – The Road to Narrative”. The conversation was moderated by Berlinka, an independent cultural reporter and writer.

Zhang Li is a professor and doctoral supervisor of Beijing Normal University. She is the author of The Occurrence of Modern Chinese Women’s Writing, Sisters, The Holder of Micro-Fire and The Story of a Traveller, etc. In March 2019, she did a research on 127 contemporary authors on the theme of “Our Time and The Gender”. She was the editor-in-chief of Selected Works of Chinese Women’s Literature in 2019, 20 Short Stories in 2019, etc. She has won the Best Chinese Prose Award, and is a member of the Theory Committee of the China Writers Association and is a judge of the Mao Dun Literature Award.

Mia Kankimäki (born 1971) is the author of two best-selling books which blend travelogue, memoir, biography and women’s history. She has graduated in comparative literature at the University of Helsinki, and worked as an editor and copywriter. Her first book, Things That Make One’s Heart Beat Faster (2013) took her to Kyoto in search of Sei Shonagon, a Japanese court lady and writer who lived a thousand years ago. Her second book, The Women I Think About At Night (2018) was inspired by her travels in the footsteps of inspirational, historical female figures in Tanzania, Kenya, Italy, and Japan. She currently lives in Helsinki, Finland.

At the beginning of the conversation, Berlinka asked Mia, “Since you are from Europe, why did you pick Sei Shonagon, a Japanese court lady and writer who lived a thousand years ago as the first main character of your book? And why you were attracted by her?” Mia answered that when she was in the University of Helsinki, she was quite interested in Japanese literature, and among them were the poetry and the works of Sei Shonagon. In her mind, the writing style of Sei Shonagon was very modern, which described her own life, interesting and disgusting things.

When talking about Zhang Li and her works – “new female albums” published on October, she said that she was inspired by the dissatisfaction of women’s writings. She thought the gender issues and the living conditions of females today should get more attention. From her perspective, the women’s writings in the new era should enter the inner world of daily life to explore the hidden gender relationships.

Berlinka thought that both of the writers were trying to present women’s living conditions and she wanted to know what kind of women they would choose as their writing objects. Mia said that she might choose who attracted her. For example, in The Women I Think About At Night, she hoped to find herself an example to lead her to a better life through writing about females in history.

Zhang Li hoped that she could present how could a female writer write and the survival of females through Emerging from The Horizen of History. She found that during the period of the May 4^th Movement, females writers like Ling Shuhua not only wrote about the females in the new era who had received education, but also focused on those women who had been marginalized because of the old thoughts. She hoped that she could find some pearls among those writings.

When talking about travels, Berlinka asked Mia, “In your eyes, what makes female writers distinct from male writers in the travelling genre?” Mia thought it was a difficult question because she could only think from females’ perspectives. But she mentioned that compared with male writers, female writers would face more difficulties and challenges. For example, at that time, it was difficult for women to travel alone, they were socially obligated to dress in a conservative and impractival manner, and they lacked financial support and respect.

The conversation was also closely related to the theme of the 5^th China-Europe International Literary Festival – “Recovery/Reflection”. Berlinka asked, “Compared with the works written by the former generations, do you think we make any progress or get back?” In Zhang Li’s mind, women both in history and at present share the same living difficulties. For example, although Chen Hengzhe, a female writer in the period of the May 4^th Movement had won various honors, she had to resign from her teaching position in Beijing University after she had fell pregnant. Until now, the contradiction between the family and the work still remains unsolved. On the other hand, “stay-at-home wives” are regarded inferior currently because they do not have a formal job.

Besides, she also mentioned today’s office ladies and middle-class women. Cold violence still exists and the role the female writings do not play well, which made her worried. Mia also said that, in Finland, many household routines were done by females. However, luckily, many of them were involved in literary creating. They re-write history – like the history during the Second World War – from the perspective of females to show their own understandings to the history.

During the Q&A session, a reader asked, “For a writer, is it necessary for her to be a human first and then to be a woman?” Zhang Li thought it should depend on the definition of “human”. For example, there was a kind of medicine against the heart attack which fit males well but not for women; during the pandemic period, we made the protective clothing under the standard of “human” whose size is suitable for males but not for women. This is because today’s standards for “human” is still for “males”. Before the 19^th Century, women’s writings and the living condition of females were covered, so female writers needed to break the rule of male only and to emphasize the importance of female perspectives.

Another reader asked, “Do women’s writings play the role well in improving women’s status, or it runs counter to the desire?” Zhang Li believed that women’s voice was to let more people know the living conditions of females. However, women’s writings were always be discussed under the perspectives of males. Women’s writings have not been solidified, or even generated a powerful source, so there is still a long way to go.

The China-Europe International Literary Festival has been held for 4 years. Every year, the Chinese writers, together with the writers from Europe, discussed a variety of topics on life and society. Once more, in the 5th China-Europe International Literary Festival, excellent Chinese writers and the writers from 27 European countries will continue the literary conversation between China and Europe.

By Ming Ming

Translated into English by Sarah Sa

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At 7:30 p.m. Beijing time on Friday, December 4, 2020, the 23rd literary dialogue was held at the 5th China-EU International Literary Festival. The Slovak writer Jozef Banáš talked with Chinese writer Chen Xiwo. They have talked about ” Local Stories, Global Writers” to discuss how to create stories inspired by local events and how to make narratives transcend boundaries, texts and language.

Jozef Banas has been one of Slovakia’s most successful authors of the last decade. He is the recipient of many literary awards, both domestic and international. His books have been translated into fourteen languages and he has presented them in twenty countries. He has published five movie scripts, three theatre comedies, thirteen books in Slovakia and twenty-three books abroad. He has previously worked in foreign trade, diplomacy and politics. His works include the #1 bestselling novels Code 9 and its sequel Code 1 about the life of Jesus in India. His documentary novel Jubilation Zone has been very widely translated. Another of his documentary novels, Stop Dubcek! The Story of a Man who Defied Power, tells the life story of Alexander Dubček and his pivotal role in the Prague Spring of 1968.

Chen Xiwo is a writer with a PhD in comparative literature. He has published several novels such as Irritation. His books have been translated into English, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese and many other languages.

At the beginning of the dialogue, the host first invited the two writers to briefly talk about the reasons and process of their respective creation. Joseph believes that, unlike China, it is easier to be a good writer in a small country like Slovakia. He wanted to be a writer when he was very young, but he didn’t start writing novels until he was in his fifties, which was 14 years ago. “Why write? Because no one wants to listen to me, I have to write them down.” He said with a smile.

Chen Xiwo, on the other hand, said that he was disappointed with the world recently and didn’t concentrate on creating too much. He once hoped to “save his life” through writing, but unfortunately, writing is a double-edged sword. Even if he hopes to gaze at the world through writing, as Nietzsche said, “when you gaze at the abyss, the abyss is staring at you”, Chen Xiwo said, “I am in the state of being gazed at by the abyss.”

Joseph expressed his understanding of Chen Xiwo and mentioned the concept of “half cup of water”, which means that everyone has different optimism and pessimism about life. As a writer, “we all hope to make the world better. The world is like the human body, which is composed of millions of cells. Now, through writing, we are still trying to promote the development of the world in a better direction.”

Chen Xiwo still put forward different views. He thinks that the nature of literature is dark, extreme and irrational, and its logic and realistic logic cannot be confused. Chen Xiwo often says to young writers, “don’t let the darkness of literature move into life.”. At one time, he also had hope for life, but in recent years, he gradually felt that real life was darker than literature, so he lost hope for the world step by step.

When the host talks about the audience of writing, Chen Xiwo compares the relationship between the author and the reader to that of lovers. “If the reader thinks that the author has written well, we can approach each other and fall in love, but if there is no feeling, it will be irrelevant.” Joseph fully agreed with this, “I just want to show my inner feelings completely because of my inner drive.”

Then, the topic comes to “how does a country’s literature go to the world?” Chen Xiwo, starting from the writers he appreciates, said that the good writers in his mind have tension and depth, such as Shakespeare, Lev Tolstoy, Kafka, etc. But then he asked a question: can Chinese writers write like these writers? “It seems that Chinese writers have always appeared in the world, but we should think about whether this kind of going out is to spread stories through thinking, thinking, or telling Chinese stories?”

“Some novels tell stories, but these novels can’t be satisfied with telling stories.” Chen Xiwo stressed that it is right to understand Chinese literature through literature, but it is not right to understand Chinese society and folk customs through literature. “Literature is literature, not providing materials similar to sociology and journalism.” The Western masters he mentioned just now do not want to understand the social situation at that time, but to read a unique spiritual core.

Joseph frankly said that in his creation, he mainly focused on two topics: one is history, the other is concrete and vivid individual stories. In a small country like Slovakia, he will choose the starting point of some small people and choose more interesting stories to elaborate, so as to attract readers and win the hearts of the people.

The host mentioned that in a special year, the whole world is facing a long term epidemic, and in a sense, the distance between global writers has become smaller. Joseph said that one of the goals of literature is to create more common sense of literature, and every writer is working hard for it. However, every writer creates according to his own national tradition and culture. It is gratifying that through creation, we can make different writers and cultures understand each other and enhance communication.

Chen Xiwo mentioned that the reality and social environment of different countries are different, so their creation environment and conditions are also very different. For example, this year, he wrote a book on epidemic situation, but no publisher has been found. Chen Xiwo sighed and summed up: “there are two kinds of problems in the world: world problems and China problems; there are two kinds of literature in the world: World Literature and Chinese literature.”

At the same time, he also stressed that writers should first take root in their familiar soil, but literary works should not be confined to political works, they should transcend politics.

In the Q&A, some readers asked how they viewed the translation of their works? Joseph said that his book had been published and promoted in more than 20 countries. When he communicated with readers, he found that most of the readers did not understand the social culture and history of Slovakia. However, when he communicated with some European writers, he found that many European readers knew a lot about some things in his works.

Chen Xiwo, on the other hand, believes that the western world is naturally quite different from China. When Irritationn was translated into French, his translator made countless overseas calls to confirm many details with him, in order to avoid misunderstanding.

The China-EU International Literary Festival has been held for four times. During the annual exchanges, Chinese and European writers have conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on various aspects of life and society, presenting a series of high-quality ideological collisions. At the 5th China-EU International Literary Festival, many outstanding Chinese writers and writers from 27 European Union member states will continue the literary dialogue between China and Europe.

At the end of the event, the two writers expressed their thanks to the organizers of the China-EU International Literary Festival and wished that this literary journey could go further and further and help more readers appreciate the beauty of words.

By Xiao Yao

Translated into English by Helen Qiu

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On Thursday, December 3, 2020, at 7:30 p.m. Beijing time, the fifth China-EU International Literary Festival held its 22nd literary dialogue, in which the Latvian writer Osvalds Zebris spoke with Chinese writer Wang Suxin on the theme of “Embracing the Literary Muse”.

How do writers find and nurse their muse? Where and how can authors extract inspiration from historic events or the daily world around them? What moves them as writers – physically, emotionally, psychologically? For this event we invited two award-winning authors to discuss their creative processes. Osvalds Zebris is a Latvian journalist and author of novels and short stories. The discussion was moderated by Rianka Mohan.

Wang Suxin was born in 1991 and her works have been published in Harvest, People’s Literature, Zhong Shan and other literary magazines. She has won the 7th West Leak New Star Award, the 3rd Zi Jin People’s Literature Short Stories Award and the inaugural Sui Shi Short Stories Award. She has published several collections of short stories, such as Xiang Rendu, On the Plain, and others.

Osvalds Zebris (1975) is a Latvian writer and journalist, holding a master’s degree in economics. Zebris has worked in public relations and communications and as an editor for various newspapers and magazines. His first book – a collection of short stories Freedom in Nets brought him instant popularity among readers and won him the Annual Latvian Literary Award for best début (2010). In the Shadow of Rooster Hill was written and published for the historical novel series We. Latvia. The 20th Century, set in 1905 when the country was part of the Russian Empire. It won the European Union Prize for Literature and is being translated into eight languages. The novel People of the Wooden House (2013) tells a mystery of a strange wooden house in one of the oldest neighbourhoods of Riga; the wooden house is a breathing character in the story, affecting people living in it and initiating various mysteries. Osvalds Zebris is a member of the Latvian Writers’ Union.

At the beginning of the conversation, the two writers first answered several questions raised by the host. Rianka Mohan asked, “do you believe in the sacred literary inspiration? If you believe it, who is your literary Muse?”

Zebris replied, “it’s a big question. Ten years ago, I believed firmly in Muse inspiration, but afterwards, I have adjusted my understanding of the concept. I think about the concept of Muse, which is actually a paradox. In my mind, Muse is the moment of inspiration, but it cannot be expected. As the time goes by, I think now the more important thing is a writer’s grasp of story and language, which is a kind of persistent training. I think inspiration is divided into three stages: reading stage, conception stage and creation stage. When you write your thoughts on paper day and night, you are lucky to have muses, but a writer can’t wait for muses.”

Wang Suxin said, “I once believed in muses. When my writing entered the second stage, or when I wanted to start a new work, I would put a classic literary work under the mouse pad, as if in such a process, my works could have a wonderful connection with my favorite classic works. Later, I no longer need such a work, no longer eager to call a muse. I now feel that no matter where I am, if I want to write, I can create. Only in the process of writing can a writer find what he wants to write. ”

When talking about his work White Night Photo Studio, Wang Suxin talked about his experience in Beijing. At that time, she was faced with a crossroads in her life. During a stroll, she was inspired by a retro camera, which made her created this novel about the real and fictional memory. Writing a novel is also a process of looking for spiritual hometown. Maybe this novel is also a retrospection of her spiritual hometown.

Later, Zebris also talked about his hometown, focusing on the writing of his hometown. He said, “the reason I care so much about the history of the 20th century, is because we know that it is only 30 years since Latvian independence from the Soviet Union, and this period of history in the 20th century has a profound impact on Latvian. For example, in the book In the Shadow of Rooster Hill, it involves the revolution in Latvian, which is one of the purposes of my writing, to call on people today to pay attention to that period of history. So back to the topic of Muses, for me, I have two muses, one is the history and reality of Latvian, the other one is my dream.”

At the same time, Wang Suxin mentioned that her current creation pays attention to people’s spiritual changes and uses novels to describe how a person grows up step by step. She is currently writing long articles, but she won’t put too much pressure on herself. She may write 500 words a day, or two or three thousand words, or simply not write, depending on the writing state of the day.

In the Q&A, a reader asked Wang Suxin, “you have mentioned the loss of your hometown speech. How did this happen? Have you ever had an identity crisis?”

Wang Suxin said, “when I first wrote, I longed for everyone’s spiritual world to be equal, but in fact, when I started to write, I found that I faced different problems with my predecessors. The first was the loss of my hometown dialect, and the second was my lack of understanding of the history of my hometown, which made me rethink my hometown, dialect and identity. I find that when I deal with characters seriously, I will find that the spiritual dilemmas of different characters are so different that it is difficult to generalize them in a universal way.”

Another reader asked, “what do you think is the smoothest writing experience?” Wang Suxin said, “my personal relatively satisfied and smooth writing experience is the writing of the novel On the Plain, which is a very coherent writing.” Zebris then said he thinks it’s a relatively smooth process for him to write and collect short stories this year. At the same time, they also talked about the literary forum once held in each other’s countries and its significance to young writers.

The China-EU International Literary Festival has been held for four times. During the annual exchanges, Chinese and European writers have conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on various aspects of life and society, presenting a series of high-quality ideological collisions. At the 5th China-EU International Literary Festival, many outstanding Chinese writers and writers from 27 European Union member states will continue the literary dialogue between China and Europe.

At the end of the event, the two writers expressed their thanks to the organizers of the China-EU International Literary Festival and wished that this literary journey could go further and further and help more readers appreciate the beauty of words.

By Zong Cheng

Translated into English by Helen Qiu

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At 8:30 p.m. on December 1, Beijing time, on the 21st activity of the fifth Chinese Owen school festival, Cyprian writer Stavros Christodoulou and Chinese writer Xia Shang started a dialogue by “Taking Shape: Immersing in the Creative Process”. Independent cultural reporter and writer Berlinka was the moderator of the activity.

Xia Shang, a novelist, a representative writer of post-avant-garde literature in China, and a graphic designer – was born in Shanghai in 1969. He is the author of the novel East Coast Chronicle, The Lazarus Child’s Wandering, Taxidermist and Bare Undead. Four volumes of Xia Shang Selected Works and a nine-volume Xia Shang Fiction Series have also been published. Now he lives in New York.

Stavros Christodoulou was born in 1963 in Nicosia, Cyprus. He studied law in Athens but has never practiced the legal profession since he had already dedicated himself to journalism at the end of the 1980s. He has worked as managing director of various magazines in Greece and Cyprus and currently works for the leading Cypriot newspaper Phileleftheros as a columnist. His first book Hotel National, published by Kalentis Publications in Athens in 2016, was shortlisted for the Cyprus State Literature Prize and for a competition run by the literary magazine Hourglass. His second book, The Day the River Froze, published by Kastaniotis Editions in Athens in 2018, received the Cyprus State Literature Prize.

This dialogue is closely related to the theme “Recovery / Reflection” of the Fifth China-EU International Literary Festival. First of all, the two writers discussed how to describe the inner world of the characters and establish the complex spiritual core of the characters. Stavros Christodoulou used The Day the River Froze as an example. In his opinion, flashback is very important to understand the feelings and experiences of the characters, because the so-called inner world is the feelings and understanding of the characters to the outside world. On the other hand, he will portray characters from different dimensions and angles, trying to portray them as real people with their own emotions. But as his writing progressed, he would find that the characters were no longer under his control, which often surprised him.

In contrast, Xia Shang’s novels do not leave too much space for the characters’ hearts, which is not so “modern” in Berlinka’s view. In this regard, Xia Shang thinks that this represents his own view of the novel. Although the novel has an end, the fictional characters will continue to live. Like Stavros, Xia Shang believed that writers sometimes could not control the development of their characters. As the narrative progresses, he needs to compromise with the characters, because it is illogical to twist the characters’ psychology.

So, how do the two writers deal with the “rebellion” of their characters? Xia Shang thinks that the writer needs to “consult” with the characters, so that the characters can conform to the overall tone of the novel without derailing. In addition, the fullness of characters is not designed, but exists in itself. Stavros believes that writing is not only about expressing one’s ideas, but also about living with the characters. At this time, it is very normal that the characters do not develop according to their own plans. They will choose to follow the characters.

Next, Berlinka asked the two writers how they viewed the depiction of human nature by various schools and whether modernism had more advantages in showing multi-level human nature. Xia Shang believed that the emergence and change of different schools were not only reflected in literature, but also in other art forms. Sometimes such changes happened unconsciously. It is generally believed that his writing style has experienced the transformation from modernism to realism, but he does not think that this is a kind of “retrogression”. He also thinks that the novel is a possibility of highly generalized life and has a juxtaposition with life. Stavros says that he is not the representative of any school. The task of the writer is to better explore human nature, which should be done by any school. He doesn’t care about the genre and naming. The creation of characters and atmosphere is the most important thing for him.

In the Q&A, some readers wanted to know how the writer deals with the material in his mind and how to choose the length of the novel. Xia Shang thinks that a writer can quickly judge which material can be used to write long articles and which can write short stories. Stavros would write his inspiration in a book and start writing from a small angle. In addition, some readers wonder whether the two writers have doubts about themselves when they write. Xia Shang tells readers that he is always suspicious and painful when writing, which seems to be inevitable. Stavros thinks that although writing is difficult, he doesn’t want to do anything else, but he can constantly discover a new himself through writing, so he enjoys the process.

The China-EU International Literary Festival has been held for four times. During the annual exchanges, Chinese and European writers have conducted in-depth exchanges and discussions on various aspects of life and society, presenting a series of high-quality ideological collisions. At the 5th China-EU International Literary Festival, many outstanding Chinese writers and writers from 27 European Union member states will continue the literary dialogue between China and Europe.

At the end of the event, the two writers expressed their thanks to the organizers of the China-EU International Literary Festival and wished that this literary journey could go further and further and help more readers appreciate the beauty of words.

By Ming Ming

Translated into English by Helen Qiu

https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTAxMjMxMjY0MA==.html?spm=a2h0c.8166622.PhoneSokuProgram_1.dselectbutton_8&showid=eebda5dce589458b87df

At 5:00 p.m. on November 29^th, 2020, the twentieth event of the 5^th China-Europe International Literary Festival was hold online. Dorthe Nors, the writer from Danmark, together with Lu Nei, the writer from China had a discussion under the topic of “Existential Struggles: Writers on Capturing Life’s Essence”.

Dorthe Nors is the author of the novels Soul (2001), Stormesteren (2003) and Ann Lie (2005) and in 2008 she published a collection of short stories entitled Karate Chop. In 2010 she published Days; a novella, and after that came the novella Minna Needs Rehearsal Space. The novel Mirror, Shoulder, Signal was published in 2016, and in 2017 it was a Man Booker International finalist. Short stories paved the way for her international success, with stories from Karate Chop appearing in American literary magazines from 2009–2012. Her story The Heron appeared in the New Yorker in 2013, making her the first Dane ever to have short fiction in the magazine. Mirror, Shoulder, Signal and Karate Chop have been published in many countries around the world, including in China where there are published by FLTRP.

Lu Nei, born in Suzhou in 1973, now lives in Shanghai. He is a member of Shanghai Writers Association and the Chinese Writers Association. He has published eight novels including Young Babylon, A Tree Grows in DaiCheng and Compassion. He won the annual Novelist of the Chinese Language Media Awards, amongst other awards. Some of his works have been translated into English.

Both writers like to use transportation as an intention in their works. For example, Lu Nei is good at using “trains” to express and promote the plot. He claimed that his grandfather, among the first generation of drivers in China, had witnessed many episodes related to history. So since he was a child, he has been deeply attached to the transportation. At that time, he lived in the west part of China, but he always wanted to see the east part of China. With the development of China in recent decades, transportation links all regions together. The life and the spirit of the generation have also dramatically changed.

In the books written by Dorthe, a lot of female characters did not get married or have a child, but most of them were well educated and had a wealthy background. These characters break a conventional law – when the female has the right to choose, every choice they make will have a profound impact on their lives. Dorthe pointed out that when we spoke of “independence”, we tacitly approved that females lived in the uncertainty of independence. For example, time concepts have been mentioned several times in her works including one’s past and the current background to describe one’s characteristics.

From the perspective of feminism, Lu Nei thought that in Chinese literature, topics about females became popular since the May 4^th Movement. The latest topic raised five years ago in a feminism movement. Since he had a daughter, he also paid attention to those movements. People born in 1970s in China was different from those born in Europe because they just survived from a closed political environment. Although the reform and opening up changed their thoughts, but the attention was still not paid to females’ personalities. “At that time. even males did not have the mental and physical freedom.” However, in the Internet era, this generation is synchronized with the world both on the way of thinking and discussing problems. And writers starts to consider about what is females’ goals? Which road they will go on? how should the generation to recognize their identity? In his works, those questions are repeatedly discussed. “Discussion is also one of the ways to reach the target.”

In most of Dorthe’s works, she often used an ironic way and “black humor” . In Denmark, people share equal rights, but actually, there are still some inequalities between males and females. However, no matter in books or reviews, Dorthe has described many self-perceptions, reflections and struggles of human beings.

Lu Nei added that female issues could be divided into two dimensions. One is in the pre-modern era. “the discrimination in China against females at that time was not as serious as someone thought.” For example, there was a preference for women in A Dream of Red Mansions; the God called Nvwa and Guanyin were also females. Lu Nei thought sometimes the issues between males and females is more like a class issue. After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, the first law promulgated was “Marriage Law”. It made the regulations on monogamy, women’s rights to take part in the work, which moved on the liberation of women. “It is a process from the pre-modern era to the modern era.” Today we should discuss the issues of females on the basis of the current era from the perspective of the modern society. The female issues include affirmative issues, work issues, human psychology and so on. Lu Nei thought that in these frames, literature can also make a lot of efforts and contributions.

Dorthe pointed out that the Internet era brought us various new ideas and possibilities. Her new book called Minna Needs Rehearsal Space was made up of short sentences like social media status updates. She shared the idea with Lu Nei that writers should have a connection with the world, and care about the world in their eyes. writers are keeping on painting the existence of human beings and during this process, she tried to use a new genre and a new concept to create a new work.

In the Q&A session, both of the writers were asked whether a voice or an image could influence the whole book? Dorthe said that the writers are those who walk through time in an endless space. Such words as “beside the table”, “on the metro” or people’s conversations, could motivate her inspirations to the creation of the book, like a variety of small pearls. Lu Nei agreed with Dorthe that such small pieces in our lives inspired him to write the whole work.

The China-Europe International Literary Festival has been held for 4 years. Every year, the Chinese writers, together with the writers from Europe, discussed a variety of topics on life and society. Once more, in the 5th China-Europe International Literary Festival, excellent Chinese writers and 27 European writers will continue the literary conversation between China and Europe.

At the end of the conversation, both of the writers extended their gratitude to the hosts and organisers of China-Europe Literary Festival, and wished that the literature journey could go further and made more readers to appreciate the charm of the literature.

By Xiao Yao

Translated into English by Sarah Sa