EU-China Literary Festival Opens in Guangzhou and Shenzhen
Today, the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to China launched the 3rd EU-China International Literary Festival at a ceremony at the Yan Ji You bookstore in Guangzhou. The festival, to be held from 19-21 November and on 25 November in Guangzhou, as well as from 22-24 November in Shenzhen, will host a series of 20 events where 36 award-winning authors from the EU and China will hold insightful conversations regarding their lives as authors, their works, and how their cultures and traditions shape their experiences. Chinese audiences at the events will have a valuable opportunity to hear about the writing process from multiple winners of prestigious literary awards such as the European Union Prize for Literature. Conversations between acclaimed European and Chinese authors will shed light on how cultural differences inspire even more richness and complexity in the literary world.
Antonis Georgiou of Cyprus, winner of the 2016 European Union Prize for Literature, expressed his excitement to be joining the festival: “This is an incredible and very special opportunity for us to be in China, to meet one another, and talk to each other. Most of us believe that Europe and China know so much about each other, but at the same time, we know almost nothing at all. We often form, inside our heads, certain stereotypes, images, or thoughts that may be reversed, revised, or even confirmed through personal contact, such as in cases like this. Literature always plays a significant role; it is a very effective way to become acquainted with other peoples and other different cultures. Good books don’t give us the answers. They set the questions. I hope that in these meetings, interesting questions are raised, even if we cannot necessarily answer them.”
Xie Youshun, Professor at Sun Yat-Sen University, also looks forward to the event: “Both China and Europe have great literary traditions. They enter the world in different ways but share the same human motif, so I am very much looking forward to the EU-China Literary Festival!” Audiences will have the opportunity to hear from Professor Xie and Mr. Georgiou at events in Guangzhou.
Other prominent authors attending the festival include HUANG Lihai, winner of the Lebanon International Literary Award and a number of other prizes; SHENG Hui, writer and art critic with works translated into English, Russian, Japanese, Hungarian, and Mongolian; WEI Wei, critically acclaimed novelist of the 3rd Lu Xun Literature Award; Mathilde Walter Clark, author and essayist born and raised in Denmark, whose works have been featured in a number of publications including The Literary Review, the Iowa Review, and Absinthe; Pierre Mejlak, Maltese author and winner of the 2014 European Union Prize for Literature; Jussi Valtonen, author and psychologist from Helsinki, Finland and winner of the Finlandia Prize; and many more from countries including China, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
To build stronger connections with Chinese literary fans, the EU Delegation has given Chinese netizens a chance to share an exclusive dinner with these authors. In a contest launched on the official EU #ExperienceEurope WeChat account, account followers could win an opportunity to join the launch ceremony and dine with the authors in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, building a personal bond with some of Europe’s most accomplished authors. During the contest, netizens shared stories and experiences on topics including what inspires authors to write; how to become a writer; and how can food and literature complement each other.
The 3rd EU-China International Literary Festival is part of a series of events under the two-year-long #ExperienceEurope initiative, which aims to introduce the culture, institutions, and people of the EU to Chinese audiences. The 1st and 2nd EU-China International Literary Festivals, held in November 2017 and May 2018 respectively, featured a total of 66 authors, who participated in dozens of individual events. With this festival, the Delegation of the EU will have brought famous writers from each of the EU’s 28 Member States to China, showing Chinese audiences the richness of contemporary European literature.