The 2023 Literary Forum and Award Ceremony of "Contemporary" was held in Zhengzhou, Henan Province
Published on: 2023-04-23 | Updated On: 2023-04-23On April 15, the "Seeking the Root of Civilization and Climbing the Peak of Literature - 2023 Contemporary Literature Forum and Award Ceremony" jointly sponsored by the People's Literature Publishing House, the Propaganda Department of the CPC Henan Provincial Committee, Henan Daily and Henan Federation of Literary and Art Circles was held in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, and the five best novels and the annual award of the "Contemporary" literature rally in 2022 were announced and awarded.
The Contemporary Literature Rally and the Long Forum Annual Masterpiece Selection were founded in 1999 and 2004, respectively. They have selected numerous literary masterpieces that grasp the pulse of the times and understand the voice of the people, thus having a profound impact. The annual forum and award ceremony have also become a literary event that has attracted the attention of the literary, publishing, and readers. This year, this event was held for the first time in a province or city outside of Beijing, and many literary masters gathered in Zhengzhou, an important birthplace of Chinese civilization and a national historical and cultural city.
A high-level literary seminar is both a microscope and a telescope
A literary award with credibility is both a vane and a spotlight
Li Hongqiang, Chief Editor and Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the People's Literature Publishing House, presided over the opening ceremony of the activity on the morning of the 15th. Yan Jingming, Deputy Director of the Culture, Culture, History and Learning Committee of the CPPCC National Committee and Vice Chairman of the Chinese Writers Association, Chang Bo, Director, General Manager and Deputy Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of China Publishing Group Co., Ltd., Huang Yuguo, Executive Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Henan Provincial Committee, Chen Yonggang, Deputy General Manager and Member of the Party Leadership Group of China Publishing Group Co., Ltd., Zang Yongqing, Executive Director (President) of People's Literature Publishing House, Liu Yaming, President and Secretary of the Party Leadership Group of Henan Daily, Shao Li, Chairman of the Henan Federation of Literary and Art Circles and Chairman of the Writers' Association, jointly launched this event.
Chen Yonggang, on behalf of China Publishing Group, congratulated the successful holding of this event and mentioned that the Central Plains culture is vast, profound, and has a long history. The "Contemporary" literary forum and award ceremony moved to the Central Plains, bringing literature back to its cultural homeland, which is of great symbolic significance for promoting the development of contemporary literature. Especially, this event, held before World Reading Day, will play a promoting role in promoting nationwide reading, building a scholarly society, and promoting excellent Chinese culture.
Zang Yongqing and Liu Yaming respectively delivered speeches on behalf of the sponsor People's Literature Publishing House and Henan Daily to welcome the guests. Zang Yongqing stated in his speech that high-level literary research is both a microscope and a telescope, allowing us to have a clearer and more comprehensive understanding of the overall situation of current creation; Credible literary awards can become a guiding vane for creativity, an engine for passion, and a spotlight for outstanding writers to enter the public eye. In this regard, People's Literature Publishing House and Contemporary magazine have the responsibility to set an example and benchmark for their peers.
Liu Yaming mentioned that Henan Daily, with a history of 74 years, is not only the main force and vanguard of Henan's propaganda and ideological front, but also the practitioner and propagandist of literary and artistic work and creation. A large number of literary and artistic masters such as Nan Ding, Zhang Yigong, Wang Huairang, and Wang Gang emerged from the newspaper's courtyard, and they stand out in the "Literary Henan Army".
Subsequently, at the 19th Annual Forum on Contemporary Novels, Yan Jingming, the director of the Evaluation Expert Committee, gave a summary of the overall situation of domestic novels in 2022. He believes that the past year was a year of great harvest for novels, and there are three universal creation trends worth paying attention to: strengthen the unique identity of the works with strong local characteristics, and enhance the recognition; While deliberately leaving behind the color of autobiography, write a spiritual hometown that transcends one's own, making it a calm narrative of Chinese stories; By using micro regions and small figures, it reflects the changes and transformations of the big era.
The representatives of the Expert Committee for the Evaluation of the "Contemporary" Long Story Forum presented speeches and analyzed and commented on the outstanding novels published in 2022. Bai Ye, a researcher at the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and honorary chairman of the China Contemporary Literature Research Association, believes that the 2022 novel reflects the overall grasp of the country's history by writers, which has led to a group of new representative works by writers themselves. At the same time, many works reflect the author's unique ideas and reflect their creative pursuit of innovating through the old. Professor Wu Jun from the School of Humanities at Shanghai Jiao Tong University raised the issue of the literary world's "going out of circles", indicating that Chinese literature resonates with the times and writes in the hearts of the people. At the same time, there is a significant generational shift in literary productivity, with writers born in the 1970s and 1980s becoming the main force, and female writers rising as a whole. Professor Wang Chunlin from the School of Literature at Shanxi University, with the theme of "Two Groups of Writers and 2022 Novel Creation", summarized the creative process and cultural background of the "Golden Generation" of contemporary Chinese literature in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as the "Silver Generation" of the 1970s and 1980s. Professor He Ping from the School of Literature at Nanjing Normal University proposed the keywords for literature in 2022: reexamination of local experiences, reflection on history, reform and opening up, the stance and methods of women as literature, and the stylistic awareness of novels. Professor Xie Youshun from the Chinese Department of Sun Yat sen University summarized the 2022 novel into three "separations": separating places from the world, separating individuals from the crowd, and separating love from resentment. Professor Yang Qingxiang from the School of Literature at Renmin University of China proposed the belief in long novels, which is a product of Chinese modernity. Belief requires courage, and writers need the courage to participate in the construction of contemporary life, have the courage to deal with their own weaknesses, and also need wisdom. Associate Professor Cong Zhichen from the Chinese Department of Peking University believes that the 2022 novel has expanded in spatial writing, with the most important being the exploration of space in narrative techniques. The spatial structure is more complex, concentrated, and rich than the temporal structure, which is the significance of expanding spatial writing.
"Yan Shi Ji", "Thousand Li Jiang Shan Tu", "Jia Shan", "Yanxia Li", and "Jin Zhi (Complete Edition)" won the top five long stories in 2022
This year's "Contemporary" full-length forum invites national writers, editors, publishers, critics, and domestic and foreign readers to vote and jointly select the best domestic full-length novels of the previous year. In order to maintain professionalism and authority, this year's selection process has been optimized based on the original process. In addition to retaining the initial review recommendation and WeChat voting for public readers, more than 50 experts, including critics, writers, journal editors, and media representatives from various provinces and cities across the country, have been invited for online voting; The evaluation expert committee, led by Yan Jingming, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Writers Association, has been expanded to 11 members this year. The composition of the evaluation committee fully considers the representativeness and professionalism of various levels. The judges are all outstanding critics who have been in the literary scene for a long time, have sharp vision, broad vision, and both academic and savvy. The top five works ranked by the judges, experts online voting, and public readers' WeChat voting were added based on their scores, and ultimately became the top five novels of 2022: Ge Liang's "Yan Shi Ji", Sun Ganlu's "Thousand Miles of Jiang Shan Tu", Wang Yuewen's "Jia Shan", Wei Wei's "Yanxia Li", and Shao Li's "Jin Zhi (Complete)".
Judge Zhang Li (Professor at the School of Literature, Beijing Normal University) commented that "Yan Shi Ji" is "a book about the taste and beauty of China, and also a spiritual epic of several generations of Chinese people." Ge Liang entered the depths of time, history, and emotions, writing the essence and luster of traditional Chinese culture, as well as the entanglement and stirring between delicious memories, culinary inheritance, and human stories.
Judge Wang Chunlin (a professor at the School of Literature at Shanxi University) believes that "The Thousand Miles of the River and Mountains" has a carefully crafted and thrilling plot, a deep exploration of complex human connotations, and a successful portrayal of rich character images, as well as a vivid depiction of the vibrant daily life scene of Shanghai's civil society. This work can be regarded as a brilliant and unparalleled ideological and artistic transformation like the "Great Shift of Heaven and Earth" by the avant-garde writer Sun Ganlu at that time.
Judge Shi Zhanjun (member of the Party Group and Secretary of the Secretariat of the Chinese Writers Association, editor in chief of People's Literature magazine) evaluated the characters in Wang Yuewen's "Family Mountain" as "individuals, groups, standing in groups, and groups as a deep abyss". The social forms, life expressions, and moral qualities of modern Chinese people converge in the sand bay, "On the plateau of contemporary literature," Family Mountain "is a deep mountain, a big mountain.
Judge Cong Zhichen (Associate Professor of the Chinese Department at Peking University) believes that Wei Wei's "Yanxia Li" has invented a new method of dealing with time in novels. The seemingly chronicled novel structure summons historical details, and the social development, life changes, and emotional entanglements over the past 40 years complement each other. "In this regard," Yanxia Li "has also invented a new method of realism, enriching the possibilities of contemporary novels.
Judge Yang Qingxiang (professor of the School of Literature, Renmin University of China) commented that Shao Li's "Golden Bough (Complete)" writes family stories in multiple dimensions, such as revolutionary narrative, growth narrative, ethical narrative and female narrative, and presents Chinese style intimate relationships such as husband and wife, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, father and daughter, and sisters in the context of history and culture, pushing the family writing in contemporary literature to a new height and a new realm.
On the night of the award ceremony, the stars shone brightly
Tribute to the writer Tribute to literature
On the evening of the award ceremony, it was held at the "Only Henan Drama Fantasy City" venue in Zhengzhou, which is rich in regional characteristics and cultural charm. The award-winning writers, organizers, and over a hundred representatives from the literary and media circles from all over the country participated in the event.
Chang Bo pointed out in his speech that this collaboration between People's Literature Publishing House and Henan is a "perfect match", which is the embrace of culture roots in the journey of literature towards the peak, and also the integration and agitation of the magnificent new era and the millennium civilization. This event not only brings together the excellent works of many literary masters over the past year, but also embodies the common aspiration of the whole country to carry out nationwide reading, build a scholarly society, and promote literature from the plateau to the peak. I hope that through everyone's joint efforts, we can open up a new situation for the contemporary literary industry, and make new works depicting the magnificent picture of the times a spiritual food for the vast number of readers. As a "publishing national team", China Publishing Group will continue to create a good creative environment and dissemination ecology for writers, fully promote and timely praise excellent works, promote creative prosperity in the process of consolidating the foundation and cultivating the yuan, and climb from the plateau to the peak.
In his speech, Huang Yuguo extended a warm welcome to all the guests who came to Henan, and thanked People's Literature Publishing House and Contemporary Magazine for their "Open Door Campaign", which was the first time to hold this important domestic brand literature event in Henan. He said that the Central Plains has a long history and culture, rich and simple regional customs, magnificent and beautiful natural landscape, and fruitful achievements in the construction of the new era, which provide an important source for literary and artistic innovation and creation. He sincerely invited all writers to travel and see more in Henan, set foot on the Central Plains, and pick up folk customs.
At the awarding ceremony, Yan Jingming, Deputy Director of the Culture, Culture, History and Learning Committee of the CPPCC National Committee and Vice Chairman of the Chinese Writers Association, Liu Zhenyun, winner of the Mao Dun Literature Award and the Knight's Medal of French Literature and Art, Huang Yuguo, Executive Vice Minister of the Propaganda Department of the CPC Henan Provincial Committee, Liu Yaming, President and Secretary of the Party Committee of Henan Daily, and Zang Yongqing, Executive Director (President) of the People's Literature Publishing House, presented awards to the award-winning writers of the "Five Best Novels of the Year". Ge Liang, Wang Yuewen, Wei Wei, and Shao Li shared their speeches on stage and received enthusiastic applause from the audience. Winner Sun Ganlu, who was unable to attend, also sent a video of their speeches from Shanghai.
The 24th "Contemporary" Literature Rally was based on the magazine readers' selection of the winners of each 2022 issue, and the 2022 annual award was selected, which was also presented that night. Ai Wei's "In the Mirror" and Dean's "Dear Honey" were awarded the "Annual Novels", Zhang Wei's "Ode to Orange" and Han Dong's "Remarriage" were awarded the "Annual Novels", Zhang Huiwen's "County Beauty (Two Questions)" was awarded the "Annual Short Stories", Sun Jingyan's "China Winter Olympics" was awarded the "Annual Documentary Works", Su Gengsheng and Yang Zhihan were awarded the "Annual Young Writers", Liang Xiaosheng and Xu Kun were awarded the "Annual Salute Writers". Liu Jianwei, Dongxi and Fan Wen, famous writers, Bai Ye and Wu Jun, famous critics, Chang Bo, general manager and Chen Yonggang, deputy general manager of China Publishing Group Co., Ltd., Dong Lin, deputy director of the Ethnic and Religious Committee of the CPPCC Henan Provincial Committee, Li Hongqiang, chief editor of the People's Literature Publishing House, and Zhao Ping, deputy chief editor, presented awards to the award-winning writers. The award-winning writers went on stage to share their creative thoughts, and the winners Zhang Wei and Zhang Huiwen also delivered their acceptance speeches through video.
In addition to the award ceremony, the event also incorporates many sections that pay tribute to literature. Tian Zhonghe and Li Peifu, the well-known Henan literary predecessors, sent a congratulatory video to review their interactions with People's Literature Publishing House and Contemporary magazine.
Liu Zhenyun delivered a keynote speech on site, citing the ancient and modern, from the Book of Songs to Du Fu, Bai Juyi, Li Shangyin, and then to the contemporary "Central Plains Henan Army", humorously explaining the development process and context of Henan literature. He thanked the "Contemporary" literary forum for hosting it in Henan, which has contributed a new element to the cultural development of Henan. Henan's profound cultural heritage will also provide cultural nourishment for "Contemporary".
On site, there was also a peak dialogue among novelists, hosted by Shi Yifeng, the deputy editor in chief of "Contemporary" and author. The award-winning writers Wang Yuewen and Ai Wei exchanged ideas with previous winners Dong Xi and Fan Wen, who served as award guests, around the theme of "Long Novels: Going Far and Returning Home".
The award ceremony was hosted by Zhang Zequn from China Central Radio and Television Corporation, who is also a famous host from Henan Province. He had a witty and exciting interaction with the award-winning author on site.
Zang Yongqing, president of the People's Literature Publishing House, delivered a speech at the end of the event, congratulating the winners and thanking the Propaganda Department of the CPC Henan Provincial Committee, Henan Daily and Henan Federation of Literary and Art Circles for their great assistance and support. He said that many of the annual five best long stories awarded this time were published by People's Literature Publishing House. The affirmation from judges and readers is an incentive as well as a spur. He also mentioned that the "Contemporary" Literature Rally has added new awards from the previous edition and will continue to be presented this year with the "Annual Salute" award, which recognizes the contributions made by writers with deep connections to the literary career of Contemporary magazine, and pays tribute to the aspirations and efforts of writers to climb the artistic peak; Looking ahead to the future, the "Young Writer of the Year" also echoes the tradition of exploring and promoting literary newcomers in "Contemporary" without any restrictions. Youth is the hope of literature. The People's Literature Publishing House also attaches great importance to this and will launch the "Young Writers Support Plan" to pave the way for real potential literary newcomers to take the ladder with practical actions.
According to incomplete statistics, 4.5 million people watched the "2023 Contemporary Literature Forum and Awards Ceremony" on the whole network that night, and 80 million people read the two major Tiktok and microblog topics, # Henan Awards for Contemporary Literature # and # 2023 Contemporary Literature Awards Ceremony #. The 2023 Contemporary Literature Forum and Award Ceremony received live streaming support from 37 all media platforms.
In addition to the literature forum and award ceremony on that day, the People's Literature Publishing House held nearly 10 reading promotion activities for several consecutive days, and held literature talks and book sharing sessions in bookstores and colleges in Zhengzhou, Kaifeng and other places. The event was warmly welcomed by literature lovers, and the strong fragrance of books spread across the Central Plains, setting off another wave of literature craze in spring.