8th EU-China Literary Festival invites for exchanges on contemporary literature
The festival invites a dozen authors from European Union Member States and China to hold discussions on different topics of contemporary literature. Under the theme "Voices of the Present: Contemporary Literature", the 8th EU-China Literary Festival will be dedicated to promoting dialogues between contemporary literature authors of the European Union and China. The festival, organised in collaboration of EU Member States, will display the diversity of the contemporary literary landscape and provide exchanges of views on a range of topics of interest to both European and Chinese authors.
From mid-October to the end of November, seven dialogues between the EU and Chinese guest authors and six literature saloons will take place in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou. In close partnership with bookstores in these cities, the festival sets up six reading corners offering the chance to read books of European authors translated in Chinese.
Cultural diversity is one of the emblems of the EU and its Member States and a tool to strengthen cultural relations beyond its borders, to connect people worldwide, to share values, to improve international relations and to learn from each other’s practices. The European Union believes that showcasing Europe’s cultural diversity and promoting mutual understanding, solidarity and sustainable development have a positive effect on EU-China relations. The fifth and last edition of the EU-China High-Level People-to-People dialogue, in 2020, agreed to continue and enhance people-to-people level cooperation. Through the organisation of this festival since 2017 and other cultural exchanges, the EU seeks to keep cultural exchanges open with the Chinese people, as an essential means to maintain bilateral links and provide a favourable environment for cooperation.
On the launching of this festival, the EU Ambassador to China Jorge Toledo said: As a party to the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the protection and promotion of the diversity of cultural expressions, the EU is committed to promoting the freedom and diversity of cultural expression as part of its international cultural relations. This is not different in our relations with China. We remain committed to promote intense people-to-people relations between Europe and China. I am confident that this festival is a step forward in that direction.
(Video - Watch the remarks by the EU Ambassador to China Jorge Toledo on the launch of the 8th edition of the EU-China Literary Festival: EU Ambassador Jorge Toledo’s address on the launch of the 8th EU-China Literary Festival (2023))
The program of the festival is available for download here:
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For more information, please contact:
Zhang Huijun
Team Leader, EU Policy and Outreach Partnership in China (EUPOP China)
Email: huijun.zhang@eupopchina.eu
For more information on the previous editions of the EU-China Literary Festival: http://eu-china.literaryfestival.eu
This project is presented by the Delegation of the European Union to China and supported by the EU Policy and Outreach Partnership Project (EUPOP) in China.