Alai speaks
Cover news reporter Zhang Jie
Spring rain is as expensive as oil. New literary forces are growing. On the morning of February 18, in the spring rain, the 2022 annual signing writers' exchange meeting of Ba Jin Wen College was held in Longquanyi District, Chengdu. The list of contracted writers for the class of 2022 was read out on the spot, and certificates were issued to the signed writers. There are 18 signed writers on the list: Wang Yi (Wang Yibei), Wang Xifeng (Wang Zhi), Lu Shaoying (Awei Mu Yiluo), Jia Lord Buha, Lü Zheng, Yang Ting, Yang Shengying, Wu Xiaolong (Wu Xiao worm), Zhang Libing (Tang Yiwei), Chen Guo, Zhou Yi, Hu Xuehua (LeEr Xuehua), Zhong Zhiyong (Xiao Yi), Hou Cunfeng, Jia Yu, Xia Zhonglan (Xia Lan), Zhen Mingzhe, Lei Lei (Mu Fusheng).
Some of the contracted writers were awarded letters of appointment
Most of these literary forces are young writers after the 80s and 90s, some are full-time writers, some are amateur writers, some are Sichuan natives, and some are new Chengdu people who have entered Shu from other provinces. Some focus on the field of fiction, some focus on poetry creation, some prefer non-fiction works, and some have made great efforts in the field of online novels, science fiction and other types of literature. At the new session, 18 literary writers spoke one by one, sharing their own literary ideas, confusions, plans and wishes.
Present at the meeting were Ah Lai, vice chairman of the China Writers Association and chairman of the Sichuan Provincial Writers Association; Hou Zhiming, secretary of the party leading group and executive vice chairman of the Sichuan Writers Association; Gong Xuemin, vice chairman of the Sichuan Writers Association and president of the poetry magazine "Stars"; Yang Qing, president and editor-in-chief of the magazine "Contemporary Literature"; and Lu Yiping, deputy editor-in-chief of "Young Writers".
Hou Zhiming spoke
The younger generation of writers confides: "I don't want to write mediocre works"
"I don't want to write mediocre work." Hu Xuehua, from Liangshan, mentioned that his hometown is undergoing great changes at present. From the great changes that his hometown is undergoing, he has accumulated a lot of feelings about his hometown, and he has also collected a lot of writing materials, and is about to write a long story. He shared his current creative confusion, "How to connect the collected materials well is a big challenge. ”
When Yang Ting shared his future creative plans, he mentioned that he was going to write a series of short and medium stories. As a post-80s person, immediately to middle age, "I will not be confused." Will use literature to express some thoughts in the heart. In addition, there is a long novel plan to be written in the next 3 years, which is about a small county town. ”
Lei Lei introduced that her writing started from online literature, "in the past 10 years, I have written 6 novels, and several works have been adapted into TV series. ”
Zhen Mingzhe is from Luohe, Henan, worked in Lhasa and Chongqing, and now lives in Chengdu. He says he currently has to strike two balances, "the balance between working and writing in the part-time, there is a balance between speed and quality." ”
Yang Shengying has many years of experience at the rural grassroots level, and he plans to create novels that reflect the revitalization of rural areas.
Wu Xiao worm is the editor of the poetry journal Caotang and a native of Shanxi in Chengdu. In 2013, he traveled from Shanxi to Chongqing and then to Chengdu. In the past few years in Chengdu, he said that "great changes have taken place in poetry creation, and he has also reaped a lot of fruits, and participated in the Youth Poetry Club of the Poetry Journal." In the new year, continue to write poetry while writing more prose. ”
Lü Zheng graduated from the Communication University of China and wrote the non-fiction work "In Search of the Poet's Family". He hopes that the literary category of nonfiction will receive more attention.
Hou Cunfeng mentioned that he was thinking about how to integrate the elements of the novel into poetry, and had a new breakthrough in the language of poetry.
Alai: Writers are discouraged from entering full-time writing too early
After listening to the voices of the young writers, Alai made a long speech and responded. It involves how literature deals with the method of reality, the expectation of the literary Chuanjun, some problems in current literary writing, and also involves his observations, experiences, reflections and suggestions.
Alai first congratulated the young writers on signing the Barkin Academy of Letters, and stressed that the origin of the name "Barkin Academy" is very precious and deserves to be cherished, "Ba Lao and his family are very cautious about using his name." Including the previous proposal to set up the Ba Jin Literature Prize, etc., they were resolutely rejected by Ba Lao and Ba Lao's family. The Ba Jin College of Literature is the only example of the one that uses the name Ba Lao. ”
How do full-time writers handle the balance between real life and literary writing? Every generation of writers will face a variety of problems, all of which are full of hardships and hardships. Therefore, writers are not encouraged to enter the state of full-time writing too early, especially when they have not yet settled into their own lives. "Baba Lao is not just a writer. He also did a lot of things, had a lot of translations, and was a big publisher. ”
Some people may say that real life will interfere with literary writing, but "people who write for a living, or who write as an important ambition, must have a big effort - to eliminate interference and enter the state of writing at any time and anywhere, and to maintain the relative continuity of writing." Du Fu was also able to keep his poetry writing uninterrupted in his turbulent and displaced life. ”
"I hope that in the Sichuan literary circle, the future star is rising, surpassing the previous generation of writers"
At present, Sichuan is full of vitality in terms of economy, culture, and urban appearance. In this atmosphere, how should literature be represented? Alai first mentioned the importance of rhetoric. "The beauty of language is important. The greatest strength of literature lies in the appeal of beauty. For example, about the writing of poetry. If it is only limited to lyricism, how much emotion can a person have? Only ambition, how many ambitions can a person write about? ”
New realities require new artistic methods to deal with. "Young writers set themselves writing goals, as they should. But pay attention not only to the number of tasks to complete the work, but to pursue quality. Can you make a little progress every day in your own direction? ”
Alai encourages young writers to constantly make breakthroughs and improve in their creation, and to refresh, enrich and develop the face of Sichuan literature together. "A writer looks like an individual, but together they are a literary team. From the current point of view, if this team is compared with the benchmarks of those provinces with developed literature in China, it will find that there are still many gaps. For example, are we a little bit worse than the writers in Shaanxi, but a little less dexterous than Jiangsu? We hope that Sichuan writers can have three characteristics: talented, ambitious, and willing to work hard. ”
There are talented people in the jiangshan generation, each leading the way for decades. I hope that in the Sichuan literary circle, there will be a future star rising as soon as possible, surpassing the previous generation of writers. "I'd love to see it happen." Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
"Living, writing, and reading are trinitarian, mutually reinforcing relationships"
But how to make progress? Alai shared his experience. "Modern society is complex. It is not enough to rely on personal experience and literary literacy alone. You need multidisciplinary knowledge. You want effective ways of thinking, tools. You need to read more books. You have to be learned. But you can't get caught up in learning and can't extricate yourself. You also have to have the ability to master learning. In short, as a living body, we must experience this complex and rich society. Literature is one of the tools of wisdom involved in society. ”
Ah Lai revealed that he now gets up at 6 o'clock every morning to write, and can write more than 3,000 words at 8 or 9 o'clock, "When I don't write occasionally, I read books." Living, writing, and reading are trinitarian, deepening relationships for me. ”
Alai also reminds young writers, "Don't say you're writing novels, poetry, or prose." The world's great writers are not limited by the subject matter. The subject matter is not important. At least not that important. But your writing, to have a sense of direction, to have its own small direction, and then put in the whole pattern of Chinese and even world literature. ”
In the final part of his speech, Alai referred to the point that the literary critic Harold Bloom, whom he greatly admired, emphasized in the Preface to the Epic: "I only endorse three criteria for the greatness of imaginative literature: aesthetic brilliance, cognitive power, and wisdom. In this way, Alai exhorted young people, "Writing is not about making others, it is about making yourself, and ultimately leading to wisdom, so as to reconstruct yourself." ”
(Photo courtesy of Barkin College)