Interface News Reporter | Intern reporter Li Yanhui Reporter Huang Yue
Interface News Editor | Yellow Moon
Every Saturday, the "Culture Weekly" summarizes and presents to you the major events and small events worth knowing about in the foreign literary and art circles, publishing circles, and bookstore industry in the past week. This week we look at the 2024 Hans Christian Andersen Awards, the surge in horror novel sales, Woody Allen's consideration of retirement, and more.
01 Hans Christian Andersen Awards 2024 announced
第61届博洛尼亚国际童书展（the Bologna Children’s Book Fair）于4月8日至11日在意大利举办。 在开幕式上，国际青少年图书委员会（The International Board on Books for Young People，简称IBBY）公布了今年国际安徒生奖（Hans Christian Andersen Award）作家奖（Author Award）的得主是来自奥地利的作家汉斯·雅尼什（Heinz Janisch)，绘本奖（Illustrator Award）颁给了加拿大绘本画家西德尼·史密斯（Sydney Smith）。
Janish is a veteran journalist and editor of children's magazines, and the author of several children's literature, such as Zack bumm!, I Have a Little Problem, Said the Bear, Hans Christian Andersen: The Journey of His Life, etc., and has won the Bologna Award for Best Children's Book in the Literary category. The Austrian Prize for the Promotion of Literature for Children and Young People, among other literary awards. The citation states, "Janish believes that nothing is insignificant in literature. He reveals the extraordinary in the seemingly trivial things of everyday life. ”
Smith, the first-ever Canadian winner, has produced some of his most acclaimed books, including Sidewalk Flowers, Town Is by the Sea, and I Talk Like A River. Smith is a two-time winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal, one of the highest accolades in the picture book industry, in 2018 and 2021. The jury said that the phrase "less is more" is reflected in each of Smith's works, "he strips away the superfluous to express emotion". Liz Page, one of the judges, noted that Smith doesn't see picture books as just for children, "For him, picture books depict human experiences and emotions that can belong to any era." ”
The Hans Christian Andersen Award was established in 1956 and has been awarding the Picture Book Award since 1966. Named after Hans Christian Andersen, the prize represents the highest honor for children's literature and is known as the "Nobel Prize for Children's Literature". The award is awarded every two years based on the aesthetic and literary quality of the texts and illustrations, the child's perspective on the world, and the ability to expand the child's curiosity and imagination.
This award is a lifetime achievement award that recognizes writers and picture book artists who have made lasting and important contributions to children's literature. In 2016, Cao Wenxuan became the first Chinese writer to win the prize, and Chinese painter Cai Gao was shortlisted for this year's Hans Christian Andersen Award for Picture Book Painters.
02 Horror novel sales surged, responding to the rise in horror around the world
A few days ago, according to the British magazine The Bookseller, sales of horror novels and ghost stories increased by 54% to £7.7 million between 2022 and 2023, which is also the highest sales of this genre since accurate records began. In the first three months of 2024, sales of horror genre novels increased by 34% compared to the same period last year, according to Nielsen BookScan, a UK book market monitor.
Horror writer Jen Williams believes that horror fiction has a tendency to rise and fall with the changes in the real world, like a "mirror" of real-world "horror" in a dark playground: "We are in a turbulent period – war, climate change, pandemics, horror fiction has regained attention and even attracted more readers." ”
Joanna Lee, editor of The Atlantic, said horror fiction was "inherently political." She points out that in many horror novels, horror is used to "confront the feeling of living under the long shadow of an inescapable war", and that the "wild and uneasy" elements of the genre "express a reality that is difficult to tell in any other way". Jane Flett, the author of a horror novel that will be published in June, agrees that the rise in fear around the world in recent years is also a response to "the many traumatic events we have experienced" and that "when everything is so worrying, snuggling in the dark can bring unusual comfort." ”
Some people in the publishing industry have pointed out that the horror genre has departed from the classic theme. Sarah Stewart-Smith, a staff member at publisher Verve Books, mentioned that horror novels that are popular on platforms like Tik Tok and Instagram have a distinctly feminist element. This shows that the horror genre has undergone a metamorphosis and has moved away from the "classic horror style" created by writers such as Stephen King. Readers are now drawn to stories of "expressions of female anger, and long-suppressed things finally exploding," Stuart Smith said, and horror novels fit that "perfectly."
03 Woody Allen's new film was released in the United States, and he was considering whether to make a movie
A few days ago, director Woody Allen said in an interview with the media AirMail that he is currently "on the fence" about whether he will make another movie.
Allen's latest film, Coup de Chance, premiered at the 80th Venice Film Festival in September 2023, and the film will be released in the United States in April this year. "Lucky from Sky," the fiftieth film directed by Allen, is a French-language thriller set in Paris about a married woman who reunites with her old flame and her possessive husband has murderous thoughts, which was critically acclaimed when it was released last year.
But while critics and fans cheered and applauded Mr. Allen, there was a boycott outside the Venice Film Festival, with protesters chanting "no to the culture of rape," storming the red carpet ceremony after the premiere of "Lucky to Die" and getting into a physical altercation with security guards.
Mr. Allen, 88, was accused of sexually assaulting his then-7-year-old adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow, in 1992, and authorities have opened two investigations into the allegations but have not filed a formal case in court. With the launch of the anti-sexual harassment movement in 2018, Allen was once again thrust into the limelight, and despite his insistence that he was innocent, he was still "ostracized by Hollywood." Since then, several of his works, including "A Rainy Day in New York," have failed to be released in the United States.
In 2023, Allen said in an exclusive interview with "Variety" that "Lucky from the Sky" may be his last film due to the boycott in the United States. In an interview a few days ago, Allen also said that the film industry is no longer what it used to be. He noted that "Annie Hall," the film in which he won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1977, was in theaters for more than a year, but now "the film is only in theaters for two weeks" and that "the whole industry has changed, and the way it has changed is not attractive." All the romance that came out of making the movie is gone. ”
He expressed a similar idea in 2022. He mentioned that in the age of streaming, "a lot of the excitement of making movies is gone." That same year, a Spanish newspaper reported that Allen would focus on writing rather than making films, which subsequently sparked a series of rumors that he was going to retire — though Allen himself later denied the retirement claims. He said in a statement that he never said he was retiring and was just thinking about not making movies anymore, "because it's not so pleasant to make movies that go directly or quickly on streaming platforms." ”
However, his producer, Letty Aronson, told The New York Times that Allen has a new film "under negotiation" and that he himself is "writing the script."
Resources:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/04/horror-novel-sales-boomed-during-year-of-real-world-anxieties
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-industry-news/article/94761-bologna-2024-heinz-janisch-and-sydney-smith-win-2024-hans-christian-andersen-awards.html
https://www.cbc.ca/books/canadian-illustrator-sydney-smith-wins-prestigious-children-s-book-prize-hans-christian-andersen-award-1.7167028
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/apr/08/all-the-romance-of-film-making-is-gone-woody-allen-hints-at-retirement-again