Back to 80: My Literary Life

Fang Minghua went to the office next door and picked up the landline phone.

"I'm Fang Minghua, who are you?"

"Mr. Fang, haven't seen you for a few years? How are you? I'm Jin Dongxu." A man's voice came from the other side. His tone was very polite, but his Mandarin was indeed very awkward.

But Fang Minghua heard it clearly, but he was stunned.

"Jin Dongxu? Do we know each other?"

"Mr. Fang is indeed a noble man who forgets things easily. We participated in the Iowa International Writing Program in the United States together in 1986."

Ouch

Fang Minghua suddenly remembered.

It turned out to be this young man.

He is the second son of Kim Chang-ho, the president of the "Korea Daily".

At that time, when participating in the international writing program in Iowa, the "Weekly Shonen MAGAZINE" under Kodansha in Japan was serializing the space science fiction "Our Journey is the Sea of ​​Stars" written by Fang Minghua. Jin Dongxu was very unhappy when he found out.

He specifically found Fang Minghua and asked him to introduce the copyright of this book and serialize it in Korean in Korea!

Damn!

Do you want to fight for this?

Fang Minghua is of course happy to do so.

After returning to China, after negotiations, the Weekly Korea under Jin's Hankook Ilbo also began to serialize this novel.

Of course, the plot modified by the Japanese was changed back, and the Three Kingdoms bosses beat up Oda Nobunaga.

Since then, Fang Minghua has never contacted this young man again. I don't know why he suddenly called today?

Of course, you have to be polite on the phone: "Excuse me, Mr. Jin, why did you call me today?"

"Mr. Fang, your call for papers for the World Chinese Literature Award was published in Japan, why not in our Korea?!"

Jin Dongxu's tone was a little questioning.

Damn it!

You want to fight for this too? !

Japan has famous writers such as Kawabata Yasunari, Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Oe Kenzaburo, including the now popular Haruki Murakami, what do you have in Korea? !

Posting a call for papers? Is it a waste of my money?

Fang Minghua was about to refuse, but Jin Dongxu said, "Mr. Fang, please make sure to publish the call for papers in our Korea Daily. In addition, you must publish it in the Chosun Ilbo and the JoongAng Ilbo! I will pay for all the expenses myself."

Fuck!

What a big tone!

But I like it.

Why not advertise for free?

Even if you don't have much literature in Korea, it's good to expand the influence of this award.

Fang Minghua immediately agreed, and said very considerately that he would fax the Korean version of the call for papers to the other party immediately, so as not to trouble the other party to find a translator.

"Yanqian! Yanqian!" Fang Minghua shouted immediately after hanging up the phone.

When Zhang Yanqian came over, Fang Minghua briefly explained a few words: "You go to the Foreign Affairs College immediately and find a student who knows Korean! The students are on vacation? Then hire a teacher!"

A few days later, a call for papers for the World Chinese Literature Award appeared in several major newspapers in Korea.

Of course, this is just a small episode.

The essay collection work is proceeding in an orderly manner. In addition to handling the work of the review committee office, Fang Minghua's work, more importantly, as a member of the novel group reading class, reads submissions from all over the country.

Yu Hua's "Crying in the Drizzle"

Su Tong's "Rice"

Liu Zhenyun's "Hometown Yellow Flowers"

Chi Zijian's "Boundless Future"

Wang Anyi's "Utopian Poems"

Ye Zhaoyan's "Picking Red Water Chestnuts"

Basically, they are new writers who appeared in the 1980s. After entering the 1990s, their creations also reached a climax and many excellent works were produced.

Of course, there are also works by older writers

Liu Sifen's long historical novel "White Gate Willow" Part 2.

Ye Xin's "Sin Debt".

Ouch

They actually sent the work that will win the next Mao Dun Literature Award?

Liu Sifen's "White Gate Willow" (Parts 1 and 2) won the fourth Mao Dun Literature Award together with Chen Zhongshi's "White Deer Plain" and others!

Fang Minghua immediately picked up the book and read it carefully.

"White Gate Willow" is a novel written by the writer Liu Sifen, with a total of 3 volumes, namely: "Sunset Grass", "Autumn Dew Dangerous City", and "Chicken Crow Wind and Rain". It mainly describes a thrilling history of the Ming Dynasty under the wind and rain.

This time I submit the second volume "Autumn Dew Dangerous City".

It mainly describes that Li Zicheng led his troops to attack BJ, and the sudden demise of Ming Chongzhen caused shock and extreme chaos to Jiangnan. For half of Jiangnan, the Donglin Group headed by Shi Kefa and the political forces headed by Ma Shiying competed. The contradictions within the regime became increasingly acute, and the struggles between various factions were thrilling, and even a civil war crisis broke out until the Qing army went south in one fell swoop.

The work uses the description of the fate and character changes of a series of famous figures such as Huang Zongxi, Chen Zhenhui, Shi Kefa, and Dong Xiaoyuan to show a long historical scroll with a vast scene and many characters in a multi-level and multi-angle manner, with a strong historical penetration and artistic appeal.

This book will definitely pass the initial review of the reading class. Will he win the first Chinese Literature Award? It is still a big question mark.

Of course, this is the judges' business.

Fang Minghua is reading books carefully in his study at home. There is a pile of submissions from all over the country on his desk.

He doesn't like to go to the Writers Association. The office is small and a bit noisy. He still finds a quiet place to read.

"White Gate Willow" is very long. The second part "Autumn Dew Dangerous City" alone is nearly 400,000 words. It takes a certain amount of time to read it.

You can't just not read it carefully and write a random review just because you know it will win the Mao Dun Prize?

Every book has its own advantages and disadvantages.

Fang Minghua read for a while, and his eyes were a little sleepy, so he decided to go downstairs to look at the flowers and plants in the yard.

His wife went to the United States, and the two children were at her mother-in-law's house. He was the only one left at home with a loyal German Shepherd and a lazy cat.

The small yard in summer is very quiet.

At this time, the phone in the living room rang, and Fang Minghua walked into the living room and picked up the phone.

It was Zhang Yanqian calling.

"Chairman Fang, works have been sent from Hong Kong and Taiwan!" The girl's voice in the microphone was very excited. "And there are several articles."

"Really?"

"Yes, Chairman Fang, come and have a look when you have time."

"Okay, I'll come over."

Fang Minghua hung up the phone, changed into a T-shirt and trousers, drove out of the house and went straight to the Writers Association.

Since the selection work started, Zhang Yanqian and the others have been worried about one problem.

Let’s not think about overseas works for the time being. What if Hong Kong and Taiwan don’t submit works?

The first World Chinese Literature Award has become a closed-door carnival for mainland writers. What’s the point of Hong Kong and Taiwan watching coldly?

There was indeed no movement from Hong Kong and Taiwan some time before the submission, which made Zhang Yanqian and the others a little anxious.

However, Fang Minghua was able to keep calm and smiled and told them not to worry.

There are really not many serious literary writers in Hong Kong, except Liu Yichang, who is already a judge.

But there are still some in Taiwan.

Look, it’s coming.

Fang Minghua drove to the Writers Association compound and entered the judges’ office. Several girls were very excited.

Li Hongying had already placed the incoming works neatly on Fang Minghua’s desk.

Hong Kong Sanlian Bookstore sent Xixi’s "Mourning the Breast"

Xinxing Publishing House sent Li Bihua’s novella "Dumplings"!

Taiwan's Hongfan Bookstore (publishing house) also sent Qi Jun's "Oranges Are Red"!

Jiuge Publishing House sent Luo Fu's poetry collection "Moonlight House"!

Wow

They are all excellent.