1980 My literary era

There is less than half a month left before Lao Cheng hands over the power of the Chinese Literature Society, but this is no longer important. How could any of the powerful officials in history wait obediently for the emperor to abdicate?

This is of course a joke.

Lin Weimin only stabs his head, but his ability is indeed outstanding.

Last month, the "World Literature Masterpiece Library" was published, which not only made the Chinese Literature Society's face appear, but also made the Publication Administration's face appear to the leaders.

Such a capable minister, although it makes people a little upset when he makes trouble, he is also very good when he receives the merit!

Lin Weimin originally planned to sit quietly in the club and pick up Lao Cheng's shift, but things went against his wishes. As soon as he finished joking with Lao Cheng, he suddenly received a call.

"God Bless America" ​​won the award!

When it comes to the Pulitzer Prize, Chinese people are not unfamiliar with it, and they are even familiar with it.

The Pulitzer Prize was established in 1917 according to the last wish of American newspaper giant Joseph Pulitzer. Since its establishment nearly 80 years ago, it has become one of the highest awards in American literature and journalism.

But more people know it because of the Pulitzer Prize.

The Pulitzer Prize is regarded by the global press community as the highest international award in the field of journalism, and is known as the "Nobel Prize of journalism."

In fact, the Pulitzer Prize awards are divided into journalism awards and creative writing awards. There are 14 journalism awards and 7 creative writing awards.

What Lin Weimin won was the Fiction Award, one of the seven creative awards of the Pulitzer Prize.

This award is also known as the three major awards in the American literary circle along with the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. Unlike the National Book Critics Circle Award that Lin Weimin once won, the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction requires that the nationality of the winning author must be American nationality.

Lin Weimin is Chinese. The reason why he won the award this time is related to his unique registration experience for "God Bless the United States".

"God Bless the United States" was published in the United States in October last year. Sales reached 700,000 copies in the first month. Sales have maintained a good momentum for the next six months. As of the announcement of the Pulitzer Prize winners, the total sales of the novel had exceeded 700,000 copies. With 3 million copies, it has become a dark horse in the US book market this year.

At the beginning of the year, this year’s Pulitzer Prize selection activities quietly began.

The Pulitzer Prize is selected by the Pulitzer Prize Selection Committee composed of 16 people, including the president of Columbia University. FSG Publishing House has a high status in the American literary world and has always had a good relationship with the Pulitzer Prize jury.

Roger Strauss made a lot of money from the publication of "God Bless the United States" this year, so he wanted to help Lin Weimin work hard for awards. After all, if Lin Weimin's novel won the award, Roger Strauss and FSG Publishing would Society will also benefit.

But Lin Weimin is a foreigner, and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has restrictions on the author's nationality. After much deliberation, Roger Strauss found a new way and actually submitted "God Bless America" ​​for the Pulitzer Prize in History.

The Pulitzer Prize awards are divided into two categories: journalism and creative writing. Creative writing includes 7 awards, namely fiction, drama, history, biography, poetry, non-fiction, and music.

Among these awards, the winning author must be of American nationality, but one award is an exception, and that is the Historical Writing Award.

Awards rules: The works submitted for the Pulitzer Prize for historical writing generally involve American history, and foreign writers are eligible to win.

Although "God Bless the United States" is about the future of American politics, a large part of it involves the past history of the United States.

Roger Strauss is an old fox in the publishing industry. He caught this loophole and after some operation, he really succeeded.

On April 21, the Pulitzer Prize jury announced the list of this year's winners. Not surprisingly, the name "God Bless America" ​​appeared on the list of winners.

But what Roger Strauss didn't expect was that "God Bless America" ​​not only won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, but this name would actually appear twice on the same award list!

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction!

Pulitzer Prize for Historical Writing!

For the first time in history, a novel won two awards at the same time. "God Bless America" ​​broke the nearly 80-year history of the Pulitzer Prize for Writing.

Even Roger Strauss, who applied for Lin Weimin, was stunned when he saw the list of winners. He originally thought of winning an award on the sidelines, but he never expected that the Pulitzer Prize would favor Lin Weimin and his novel so much. .

A double shot!

After the initial surprise, Roger Strauss couldn't wait to call his old friend Lee Beaumont, who was also the president of Columbia University.

He called, of course, to ask about the inside story of the double success of "God Bless America."

This obvious preference is really puzzling!

Roger Strauss had a good relationship with Lee Beaumont, otherwise he would not have had the opportunity to play a side game.

He told Roger Strauss on the phone that the reason why "God Bless the United States" won two awards was mainly because the strength of the nominated works in the fiction and historical writing categories this year has generally shrunk.

Of course, this reason is only a basis.

The most important thing is that the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism has become more and more famous over the years, but the influence of the creative awards has always been less.

The jury also did this to attract some public attention and discussion for the award.

"God Bless the United States" was published half a year ago and has aroused great repercussions in the United States, with many readers and a huge reputation.

Moreover, Lin Weimin has become very famous in the United States in the past two years. A novel with an American historical background written by a foreign writer like him has won American awards, so it is naturally more topical than other novels.

Another reason is that in March just past, the relationship between China and the United States fell to a freezing point due to the Gulf Islands issue. At this time, awards were given to Chinese writers. The jury believed that this was also a news point that could create topics.

Lin Weimin was listening to Roger Strauss telling the inside story about the award-winning "God Bless the United States" on the phone, and he couldn't complain in his heart.

It has been said that domestic awards are bad, but in fact, foreign countries also have the same virtue.

After all, the Pulitzer Prize is just for some attention and topicality, and the selection of winning works is considered normal.

Many literature lovers of later generations should have heard that Yu Hua's "To Live" once won the Italian Literature Award, and the award was called the Grinzana Carver Literary Award.

This award was once considered a quite prestigious literary award in the Italian literary world, but it was canceled in 2009. The reason was that the chairman of the jury had embezzled the funds, and there was no money and it could no longer be run.

However, no matter how much I complain in my heart, this is still an award.

But when Roger Strauss told him that the invitation letter from the jury had been sent to him in advance, inviting him to go to the United States to receive the award in early May, he hesitated.

The relationship between China and the United States is currently tense. If he goes to the United States, he will inevitably be asked about some political topics.

At this time, it is wise to stay away from the place of right and wrong.

No matter how much Roger Strauss persuaded him, he insisted not to attend the award ceremony, which made Roger Strauss very helpless.

In Roger Strauss' regretful tone, Lin Weimin hung up the phone.

But he didn't expect that less than half a day later, the WJ department would call and invite him to come.

After waiting there, the person talking to him was Mr. Qian, the head of the WJ Department.

At this time, the WJ Department had learned that "God Bless America" ​​had won the Pulitzer Prize. This time, it came to Lin Weimin in the hope that he could go to the United States to attend the Pulitzer Prize Award Ceremony and ease the tense diplomatic relations between the two countries.

There was tension last month, but will the relationship be eased this month?

Lin Weimin didn't understand the reason, so Mr. Qian had to patiently explain to him.

It turned out that last week, the commander-in-chief of the United States, Zidane Zidun, spoke at a gathering of Asian and Pacific American celebrities and emphasized the hope of improving relations with the country.

The speech was very long and very pertinent. It was obvious that he was using this gathering to spread the word to the country.

Domestic leaders know the elegant meaning when they hear the sound of strings. It happened that Lin Weimin won the Pulitzer Prize at this time, which was a good opportunity to ease the relationship between the two parties.

After hearing this explanation, Lin Weimin felt relieved. After the tension between the two parties in 1996, the relationship did recover very quickly and became even more popular than before.

Since the organization needed him, Lin Weimin naturally did his part and agreed to the matter.

A few days later, Lin Weimin received an invitation from the Pulitzer Prize jury. After a day of preparation, he boarded a flight to America.

On the same flight, there were several WJ Department staff members.

May 8, New York, USA.

Columbia University, Lowe Library, Rotunda.

This is where the Pulitzer Prize is awarded every year on May 8.

At around 9 a.m., many members of the Pulitzer Prize jury, journalists, writers and critics in the literary world, and teachers from the Columbia School of Journalism gathered together to welcome the Pulitzer Prize winners.

There are 21 Pulitzer Prizes in total, but this year there are only 20 winners.

Everyone gathered together, and their eyes naturally focused on Lin Weimin, the only yellow person in the room.

In the nearly 80-year history of the Pulitzer Prize, there have been many cases where the journalism category has won two awards at once, but this has never happened in the creative category.

It's normal for everyone to look askance at such a preference.

Everyone's eyes were focused on Lin Weimin, but his eyes were on the two comrades from the WJ Department who accompanied him to attend the award ceremony. After they arrived, they did not stand with Lin Weimin, but hid behind him. far corner.

Then Lin Weimin saw a few Laomi elites in suits and ties chatting with the two of them. The two groups gathered together and muttered, looking like they were engaging in some illegal transaction.

He couldn't complain in his heart, could he be considered an icebreaker ambassador?

Lin Weimin had no time to pay attention to the movement in the distance, because he had to deal with the pleasantries around him.

As the focus of publicity for this Pulitzer Prize, Lin Weimin received a warm welcome from the jury members and greeted fellow journalists and writers from time to time.

Unlike Lin Weimin, who was accompanied by staff, these people were all accompanied by their family members, and the atmosphere was warm and pleasant.

Time quickly arrived at noon, and according to the tradition of the Pulitzer Prize, a luncheon was held in the rotunda.

At the banquet, many winners received their prizes and certificates from Columbia University President Lee Beaumont.

The ceremony was not grand, and the prize was not that big, only 7,500 meters.

Lin Weimin won two yuan alone, and one person took home 15,000 yuan.

Seems out of place.