Opening Ceremony|Literature, World and their meanings

开幕式|文学、世界与意义

2018年11月19日，第三届中欧国际文学节在广州言几又书店正式启动。本次活动邀请了36位来自中国各地和欧盟各国的优秀作家，将在广州、深圳两地就作家的个人作品、生活创作故事以及对文化多样性、跨文化交流、文化继承等话题展开系列讨论会。

On November 19, 2018, the 3^rd EU-China International Literary Festival was officially launched in Guangzhou Yan Ji You Bookstore. 36 excellent writers from different parts of China or different countries of EU have been invited to discuss topics related to their personal works, life and writing stories, cultural diversity, cross-cultural communication and cultural inheritance in the panel discussion sessions in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

波兰驻广州总领事岳安娜 ( Joanna Skoczek )女士在第三届中欧国际文学节开幕式上致辞，她热烈欢迎来自欧盟的著名作家，并邀请公众一同体验文学文化交流的乐趣，她强调“中欧合作在商贸投资、物流运输、教育旅游等领域不断加强，而双方文学的交流为克服语言文化差异搭建起良好的桥梁，不容忽视，2018年既是中欧旅游年又是欧盟文化遗产年，中欧双方的高层对话不断强调互联互通，而文学文化的交流无疑是其重要的组成部分”。本次来自塞浦路斯、丹麦、芬兰、马耳他、荷兰、波兰、罗马尼亚、瑞典、英国的9位优秀作家将代表他们的国家出席这一历史性的跨文化盛事，通过近距离与读者接触，充分展示文化多样性。

Ms. Joanna Skoczek, Consul General of Poland in Guangzhou, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the 3rd EU-China International Literary Festival. She warmly welcomed famous writers from the European Union and invited the public to experience the joy of literary and cultural exchanges. She emphasized that “EU-China cooperation in Business and trading investment, logistics and transportation, education and tourism has been continuously strengthened. The exchange of literature between the two sides has built a good bridge for overcoming differences in language and culture, which cannot be ignored. 2018 is both the Europe-China Tourism Year and the EU Cultural Heritage Year. Continuous emphasis has been put on inter-connectivity by the leaders from both parties, and the exchange of literary culture is undoubtedly an important part of it.” The nine outstanding writers from Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom will represent their country in this historic cross-cultural event and showcase their cultural diversity through close contact with readers.

随后，出席开幕式的21位中欧作家分别致辞，风格各异、极具个性的介绍充分展示了本次文学节文化多样性和跨文化交流的主题。第三届鲁迅文学奖获得者魏微介绍，“广州是改革开放开始的地方，跨国交流丰富，极具岭南文化风格”，同时她希望欧盟作家们通过交流可以深入感受岭南文化。八零后小说家陈崇正表示，“广东和北方地区文化差异大，方言有粤语、潮汕话、客家话，语言的多样性也让文学世界更加精彩；从安徒生到莎士比亚，欧洲文学也是由一部部作品编织而成的”，他希望中国作家的作品能走出去，也希望欧盟作家的作品也能翻译成中文从而引进来。荷兰作家Mineke Schipper的作品《别娶大脚女人：世界谚语中的女性》曾获2005年最佳非虚构小说Eureka奖，“讲述故事可以把不同文化背景的人们聚到一起，这就是文化交流的魅力”。

Subsequently, 21 Chinese and European writers who attended the opening ceremony delivered speeches, and the different styles and individualized presentations fully demonstrated the cultural diversity and cross-cultural communication, theme of this literary festival. Wei Wei, the winner of the third Lu Xun Literature Award, said, “Guangzhou is the place where reform and opening up began, rich in cross-border exchanges, and has a Lingnan(Southern Chinese) culture style.” She also hopes that EU writers can deeply understand Lingnan culture through exchanges. Chen Chongzheng, a novelist born after the 1980, said: “Guangdong and the northern regions have great cultural differences. The dialects here in Guangdong Province include Cantonese, Chaoshan dialect, and Hakka dialect. The diversity of languages also makes the literary world more exciting. From Andersen to Shakespeare, European literature is also composed of one work after another. He hopes that the works of Chinese writers can go global, and that the works of EU writers can also be translated into Chinese and introduced into China. The Dutch writer Mineke Schipper’s work Never Marry a Woman with Big Feet: Women in Proverbs from Around the World won the Eureka Award for Best Nonfiction in 2005, “the story tells you that people from different cultures can be brought together. This is all about the charm of cultural exchanges”.

如何讲好故事、写出好的文学作品与作者的人生经历密不可分：来自丹麦的小说家、散文家Mathilde Walter Clark拥有在丹麦和美国的家庭生活的经历，正是她对家庭、归属和距离的思考，成就了她的最新力作——自传体小说《孤夜星辰》；湖北编辑、小说家王十月被媒体称为“斜杠青年”，曾有过25种不同工作经历的他最终找到自己所爱——文字、绘画和股票投资，他希望自己“像伟大的巴尔扎克一样，老天不给挣大钱的机会，但最后能成为伟大的作家”。构建自我、独立思考更是写作不可或缺的部分：中国作家协会会员世宾相信自己“能用有限的肉生，不断写作和思考、不断成为自己、成为历史的人、文化的人”。来自波兰的战地记者Wojciech Jagielski20多年来走过最混乱冲突的地区、看过战争的残酷、感受过生活在水深火热之中的人们的绝望。

How to tell a good story and write a good literary work is inseparable from the author’s life experience: the Dutch novelist and essayist Mathilde Walter Clark has a family life experience in Denmark and the United States, it is her family, sense of belonging and long distance as well as thinking that made her latest masterpiece – autobiographical novel Lone Star; Hubei editor and novelist Wang Shiyue was called “slash youth” by the media. He had 25 different work experiences and he finally finds out where his passion is—literature, painting, and stock investment. He wants to be “like the great Balzac, God does not give the opportunity to him to make big money, but in the end he can become a great writer.” Constructing self and independent thinking is an indispensable part of writing: the Chinese Writers Association member Shibin believes that he “can use his limited flesh(or say body), to keep writing and thinking, and constantly become himself, a person of history and a culture”. Wojciech Jagielski, a war correspondent from Poland, has gone through the most chaotic conflicts for more than 20 years, seen the cruelty of war, and felt the despair of people living in dire straits.

另外，文学发展离不开对文学传统的继承，中国作家协会会员王威廉认为，“中欧文学就是两大传统之内的写作，东方的屈原、李白，西方的荷马史诗、近现代文学”，同时，当今世界全球化的过程趋势不能避免，如何应对和处理文学传统继承和国际文化交流的关系，显得尤为重要。

In addition, the development of literature is inseparable from the inheritance of literary traditions. Wang William, a member of the Chinese Writers Association, believes that “Chinese and European literature is about the writing with the two traditions, Qu Yuan, Li Bai in the East, Homer’s epic and modern literature in the West。” At the same time, the process of globalization in today’s world cannot be avoided. How to deal with the relationship between literary tradition inheritance and international cultural exchange is particularly important.

本次文学节将于11月20-21日、25日在广州以及23-24日在深圳举办，讨论的话题还包括同情与人性、作家的生活故事、写作的意义，以及全球时代与本土写作的关系等等。来自芬兰的作家、心理学家Jussi Valtonen强调作家要感人所感、解人所思、知人所痛；作家、文学评论家盛慧选择锁定小人物，讲述小人物的日常生活、呈现一个人的表达。更多优秀作家的精彩分享，不容错过！

The literary festival will be held in Guangzhou on November 20-21, 25, and in Shenzhen on 23-24. The topics discussed include sympathy and humanity, writer’s life story, the meanings of writing, and global era versus local writing. and so on. Jussi Valtonen, a writer and psychologist from Finland, emphasized that writers should feel what people feel, understand what people think and know what people suffer from. Writer and literary critic Sheng Hui chooses to focus on writing about ordinary people, telling the life stories of them, and present their personal voices. So please do not miss out the wonderful sharing of more outstanding writers!