The author | Maureena
Editor| Li Chunhui
In 1995, Zhao Changtian, who was once regarded as the most promising team member in Shanghai politics, was transferred to Bud magazine as editor-in-chief. Three years later, Zhao Changtian joined hands with 10 colleges and universities such as Peking University, Nankai and Fudan to establish the "New Concept Essay Competition".
Since then, when Zhao Changtian took over, the "Bud", which had a circulation of only 10,000 copies and struggled on the brink of life and death, came back to life and became the cradle of a new generation of writers. In the eyes of the post-80s and post-90s middle school students of that year, the "New Concept Essay Competition" was the most dazzling debut stage, especially the two phenomenal writer idols of Han Han and Guo Jingming, who are still active in front of the stage.
And when Hard Candy Jun sorted out what this pair of "new concept" Gemini did for the Nth time (Han Han Guo Jingming's law of conservation of the universe), some readers left a message : "What about the girls who won the award at that time?" Is it because of silence and no longer creating? Is it a wife and a mother? Or continue to create, just not so famous."
What a good question. "New Concept" has been established for more than 20 years and has more than 100 award-winning authors. In today's gender issues, which are more and more frequently explored, the development of such a group of young girls who are dazzling in the next ten or twenty years is undoubtedly an excellent sample library, let us observe women's career paths and life choices.
<h1>When the "new star" aura fades, how to continue the writer's career</h1>
As soon as the "new concept" was born, a whirlwind blew up in the literary circles and the education circles, and some experts bluntly said that this was a "star-making movement" of young writers. Zhao Changtian retorted that becoming famous at a young age is an irresistible temptation for any young person, and that "new concept" contestants may be utilitarian, but the essay contest is by no means "making stars".
But the new concept contest is indeed very similar to today's idol draft. Middle school students holding award certificates leave green images in front of the camera, and after the carnival on the night of their debut, they are quickly forgotten by people, and only a very few people can always be chased by the spotlight.
The winners who mention the "new concept", in addition to Guo Jingming and Han Han, should be Zhang Yueran's most well-known public. In 2001, Zhang Yueran, a girl from Jinan, graduated from the Shandong Experimental Middle School, and the first prize certificate of the "new concept" in her left hand entered the university door.
Zhang Yueran, who ranked 23rd in the "Rich List of Chinese Writers" in 2006 with a royalty income of 3 million yuan, is the most successful female author in the "New Concept Department". Her success is due, on the one hand, to her early years of hard work and the style of writing that cuts to young readers, and on the other hand, thanks to the window of time when online literature has not yet emerged.
Zhang Yueran, who has the aura of "first prize for new concepts", published works and founded the magazine "Carp" at an annual rate for eight years from 2002 to 2010. In 2012, Zhang Yueran was hired by Chinese University as a lecturer in a writing class.
Zhang Yueran is undoubtedly a female author who has exerted the greatest potential of the "new concept". Most of the participants in the "New Concept" are high school students, and in addition to fulfilling their literary dreams, they can also get a certain tilt in terms of further education in order to win the award. In addition, many contestants have taken this springboard to step into top universities and no longer intersect with "literature".
Hao Jingfang is the winner of another new concept essay after Zhang Yueran, which has once again broken into the reader's field of vision in recent years. In that year, 18-year-old Hao Jingfang participated in the "Fourth New Concept Essay" and won the first prize. Originally able to guarantee the Chinese Department of Peking University, she chose to study in the Physics Department of Tsinghua University.
During her studies at Tsinghua University, Hao Jingfang never published any more works until 2007, when she returned to the literary world as a science fiction writer. In 2016, Hao Jingfang's novel "Beijing Folding" won the Hugo Award for "Best Short Novella", and the "new concept" of this hardcore female science fiction writer was only known to the public.
On the contrary, Zhao Qin, the contestant who was only shortlisted for the sixth "New Concept" and did not win an award, became the most recognized female author of the "New Concept Department" except Zhang Yueran. Her pen name is Seven Yan Nian.
The "new concept" provides a momentary aura, and if the aura wants to last a little longer, it needs the author himself to have a certain topicality, so that the masses can always discuss the new. But the author who does not have the degree of discussion does not mean leaving the literary world. The "new concept" composition is the same root as the Shanghai literary circle, and there are not many female authors on the road of writing.
Zhou Jianning is the first prize winner of the second "New Concept" and entered the liberal arts base class of Fudan University after graduating from high school. In 2008, Zhou Jianning joined the magazine "Carp" founded by Zhang Yueran as a text director. After returning to Shanghai from Beijing, Zhou Jianning wrote for the public account in between writing.
The first prize of the sixth group B won by Yiwei, and in the following years, he continued to participate in various literary competitions, and is currently teaching creative writing in the Department of Fudan Chinese. In addition to teaching, she still maintains the writing speed of publishing a new book in 1-2 years. In addition, Zhang Yiwei had a close personal relationship with Zhao Changtian's son and writer Na duo's family, and had written for the public account of Zhao Ruohong, Na Duo's wife, for a long time.
Writer Yan Ge, formerly known as Dai Yuexing, the winner of the first prize of the fourth B group, the work was translated into many Chinese words published overseas, the novel "Strange Beast" has sold film and television copyright; Song Jingru, who is also the first prize of the first prize with Han Han, has worked as a reporter and editor after graduating from Nankai University in Tianjin, because he hopes to "read and write quietly", and now lives in the United States, becoming a freelancer and writing for a living.
<h1>Sound career planning, what the "writer" can do</h1>
The "New Concept" essay was born in 1998, and the contestants are mostly post-80s and post-90s, that is, the only child generation. The career choices of these winners are also quite anachronistic.
The parents of only children are mostly born in the 60s, and they respect the iron rice bowl and the system, as well as the career expectations of their children, especially their daughters.
Although the New Concept Essay Contest does not have other restrictions on participants except for the age requirement of 30 years old, most of the participants are liberal arts middle school students, and most of them are girls. After these girls get a good place in the competition, they will be thrown an olive branch by the university, or scored or admitted early.
Zhou Jianning once said that science students can participate in various competitions to obtain the qualification to enter prestigious schools, and for liberal arts students, "new concepts" are the only opportunity.
As a result, most girls naturally enter the traditional "yin sheng yang" majors such as philosophy, literature or journalism in well-known universities, and after graduation, except for a small number of people who choose to become professional writers, others enter the corresponding unit step by step.
Wu Yue, the first prize winner of the same term with Zhang Yueran, entered the newspaper as a reporter after graduating from university, and was promoted to chief reporter of Wen Wei Po a few years later. After 10 years as a journalist, Wu Yue joined Harvest magazine and became the youngest editor in the company.
Xu Minxia of the first session and Liu Lina of the second session also made editors and began to escort the dreams of writers for the younger generations. Interestingly, Xu Minxia chose to join the "place where dreams begin" - Sprout magazine. She and Wu Yue, who works at Harvest, have only one floor across the office.
Lina Liu
Mei Sifan, who won the first prize of the first and third sessions twice, chose to study in France all the way to the doctorate after graduating from the theater, and now she is a professional translator who has translated many children's books.
Girls who can also find the latest situation and come out of the "new concept", the most career choices are teachers, journalists, editors, and the rest are also related to the cultural industry.
Ma Ning, who is now an internet celebrity, was the first prize winner of the fifth group A of the new concept essay. After moving to Beijing Radio, Youmi Network and other places, Ma Ning resigned to start a business and began to operate his image of a famous woman who "repaired both inside and outside" on the Internet.
Yin Shanshan, who was strangled to no avail in the "No V" (Muzimei) network scolding war, is also a new concept essay winner, and she has engaged in a talk show on Youku, and she has encountered mass boycott for criticizing "Wolf Warrior 2" in the show.
"The First Half of My Life" was broadcast, and many people angrily scolded the screenwriter for changing Shi Taijia's masterpiece to impatience. Qin Wen, who was at the same time as Zhang Yueran and Wu Yue, was one of the screenwriters of "The First Half of My Life". After graduating from the Chinese opera major, Qin Wen became a screenwriter, and "Our Youth Without a Place" and "The Legend of Hot Mom" are her screenwriting works.
Zhang Xiaohan, who was plagiarized because of the "bloody case caused by a toilet plug" and successfully "made" himself on the hot search, is also a writer and a screenwriter.
With the decline of the influence of the "new concept" and the change of the media environment, the post-90s female authors have become "public dogs". For new mobile Internet readers, Qu Weiwei, the two-time "first prize winner of new concepts", is obviously stranger than qu Weiwei, the public name author. Qu Weiwei opened a public name in 2015, and with the main number of "Qu Weiwei" as the core, it has created 9 trumpets to form a matrix.
Basically these new concept girls, although their career choices are slightly different, are all related to "words". The career planning of the post-80s is more conservative than that of the post-90s, but also because of the dividends of the times, the proportion of post-80s becoming professional writers is higher.
<h1>Where are ding yans</h1>
In addition to these winners who are still active on the Internet and in the writing circle, there are also some authors who have come out of the "new concept", and it is difficult to find any traces. One of the most representative is Ding Yan, who is always mentioned but no one knows her recent situation.
Li Qigang, director general of the "New Concept" Working Committee, once said that he once wanted to set up a link in the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the "New Concept" competition - "Looking for Ding Yan", and Ding Yan and Han Han were both the first prize winners of the first Group B.
Han Han's competition process of that year itself carried a legendary color, what a cup of water a paper ball, the paper ball sank into the bottom of the cup, and the splendid article was written. The story of "Peeping in the Cup" has been repeatedly retold for many years.
Li Qigang took a photo with Han Han in his sophomore year of high school
Ding Yan is different, she does not have the storytelling of Han Han, nor does she have the opportunity to expose the latest situation in front of readers, as well as other winners who have published other works one after another. No one knows where she is or if she is still engaged in writing-related work, and she has been remembered by people for more than ten years just by the aura in the article.
In 1998, when she competed, Ding Yan was in her second year of junior high school. Mr. Ye Zhaoyan used two "very happy" words to express his inner love for this 15-year-old girl. In 2001, a media interview was given to Ding Yan, who was then a high school student at Jianping Middle School in Shanghai, and this was the last trace of her that could be found on the Internet.
In the interview, ding yan was said to be a "girl who has always been very low-key and even a little timid", although she won the first prize at the age of 15, but the pressure of the middle school entrance examination made her unable to concentrate on writing. She mentioned this, and the tone was not regretful, but said: "I am not in favor of using the strength of one person to fight against the world like Han Han, it is too difficult, and if you want to live your life, you must build on the minimum acceptable to the public."
This kind of over-age maturity and the fatalistic pessimism that emanates from the discourse are not uncommon among the authors of the "New Concept". In addition to a very small number of rebels such as Han Han and Guo Jingming, most of the first prize winners, whether in their careers or in life, follow the conventional life trajectory of "what age to do things".
Someone once asked "what are you doing now, who once won awards in the New Concept Essay Contest", some people have become Taobao shop owners, some people have become office clerks, some people have become full-time housewives, and some people say that there are 5 friends around who have won the first prize, and now none of them are engaged in writing work.
Some respondents also said that Ding Yan still maintained contact with some friends, she lived an ordinary and ordinary life, and she was married and had children. Other female authors who have come out of the "new concept" have mostly completed major events such as marriage and children within 2-4 years after graduating from college. Hao Jingfang's public name is called "Qing Ma Said", which changes the nature of science fiction writers and mainly publishes parenting experience. Zhang Yueran has completed another cycle of marriage, divorce, and falling in love again.
With the development of online literature, young people with the dream of being a writer have long since ceased to have to become famous and become famous through an essay contest. Today's "new concept" is more like a national competition for post-00s and post-10s contestants to add points to the college entrance examination. The rebellious model of test-taking education in that year has become a new and fierce examination ground. The unique youthful sad style of "new concept" composition has gradually been abandoned by young authors and readers.
The new concept is fading, the old is old, and the "new concept essay contest winner" has become a dusty word, only to be pulled out of the old paper pile over and over again by the 80s and 90s writers like hard candy Jun. The girls of the new concept also sang as the song goes, "Where are they, they are old, they have been carried away by the wind and scattered in the end of the world." ”