Back to 80: My Literary Life

Although the morning in Chengdu was not as cold as in Xijing, the wind was still chilly. Fang Minghua went to a breakfast shop opposite and ate a bowl of local snack rice rolls, which was full of spicy flavor. After eating, he felt warm all over, and then he took the official document Bao walked to the "Science and Literature" magazine office in the middle of Renmin Road.

In the conference room of the magazine, an exchange seminar is in progress. There are fewer people than yesterday. The leaders have left. Some authors who came to receive awards from other places also left in a hurry because they had something to do. Many of the others are science fiction enthusiasts. By.

There is no other intention, just love.

Sun Jianguo did not leave. He was sitting below and listening carefully to a young man on the stage telling his story.

This time the first prize winner of the Galaxy Award is Liu Cixin.

"I was very naughty when I was a child. I liked to dance with knives and sticks, and practice martial arts. I made my own gunpowder guns. Anyway, I couldn't rest for a few days, which caused a lot of trouble in the house."

The audience in the audience laughed. They did not expect that this young man who seemed to be quiet and quiet could be so naughty when he was a child.

"Until one day, I dug out a pile of books under my dad's bed, and one of them was called "Journey to the Center of the Earth." I remember Jules Verne's "Journey to the Center of the Earth" very clearly. How I felt at that time Yes, my God, there are such beautiful books in the world! This book became my science fiction enlightenment, and I fell in love with science fiction from then on."

"This book "The Wandering Earth" was inspired by the science fiction novel "Solar Catastrophe" edited by Fang Minghua. I was thinking, what if the sun is not successfully saved? What will humans do if the sun dies?"

"I was still in college at that time, and I was thinking about this problem all day long. Slowly, I came up with the novel "The Wandering Earth"."

More than 30 people in the audience were listening carefully. Sun Jianguo turned his head and suddenly found a person standing outside the window. He took a closer look:

Oh my god.

Isn't this the Fang Minghua I met at Xijing Railway Station at noon the day before yesterday? Didn’t you go to Yanjing to attend the Mao Dun Literature Award Ceremony? Why did you suddenly appear in Chengdu?

He was surprised and happy, and just as he was about to say hello, he saw that Fang Minghua also noticed him and made a silent gesture to him, indicating that he should continue to listen.

Sun Jianjun suppressed his inner excitement and looked at Liu Cixin on the stage as he continued to speak: "I personally feel that the pursuit of aesthetics in science fiction novels is essentially the same as that in ordinary literature. The biggest difference is reflected in the pursuit of the beauty and beauty of science. The pursuit of technical beauty.

"The beauty of science is reflected in simplicity, harmony, and symmetry, and it is the use of seemingly simple formulas and theories to express a complex world,"

"The beauty of technology is reflected in the things created by humans, such as the machines created by humans. The power and dexterity, power and vitality displayed by them are the aesthetic foundation of science fiction."

"Pa bang bang, there was warm applause in the conference room, and Fang Minghua outside the window also applauded.

This immediately attracted people's attention.

"who is he?"

"Holy shit! It's the writer Minghua! The winner of the Mao Dun Literary Award!"

"Did you hear that you went to Yanjing to receive the award? Why are you here?"

"how could I know?"

Yang Xiao, who was sitting in the back row, also saw Fang Minghua outside the window at this time, walked out of the conference room quickly, smiled and shook hands.

"Why did you come here?"

"I think it would be better to come here. How else would I be able to hear such wonderful speeches and see so many friends who love science fiction?" Fang Minghua said with a smile.

With Fang Minghua's arrival, the conference room immediately became lively. Liu Cixin also finished her speech at this time. Fang Minghua smiled and shook hands with everyone.

Fang Minghua saw a young man who he said was a student from Wuhan University and came specially from Wuhan.

His name is Han Song.

Finally, he stood on the podium and said to everyone with a smile: "I flew here from Yanjing last night. I originally planned not to come, but in the end I came. I am still very excited about the first-class Galaxy Award." Care."

Fang Minghua's slightly humorous words made everyone laugh.

So someone boldly stood up and said, "Editor-in-Chief Fang, the Mao Dun Award ceremony is much more impressive than ours, isn't it?"

"Yes, it was in the Great Hall of the People where all the guests were seated." Fang Minghua replied, and suddenly the conversation changed:

"However, although our Galaxy Awards this year are a bit shabby, a good start is half the success! I think our Galaxy Awards, including our science fiction, will be known and liked by more and more people, and will be like China." Just like the women's volleyball team, break out of Asia and go global!"

At this point, Fang Minghua paused: "I'm here to tell you some good news. The English translation of "The Wandering Earth" written by Comrade Liu Cixin has been published by the American "Fantasy and Science Fiction" magazine! I dare say that he It is a strong contender for next year’s American Nebula Award or Hugo Award!”

"Bah bang bang!" Warm applause rang out again in the conference room, and Liu Cixin's face flushed with excitement.

I never thought that a novel I wrote could be published in a foreign country!

"In the future, if you write excellent science fiction novels, in addition to publishing them in our country, I will continue to recommend them to be published abroad! Don't worry, you don't have to pay for the translation, I will pay for it!"

There was laughter in the conference room, followed by applause.

Throughout the morning, Fang Minghua talked about what he saw and heard in the United States, especially attending the Nebula Awards Ceremony in Chicago, the situation in the American science fiction industry, and the latest trends. The audience listened with interest.

For lunch, Yang Xiao treated a guest. In addition to Fang Minghua and Japanese Osamu Iwakami, Liu Cixin was also specially invited. Naturally, it was hot pot.

Haru Iwagami is not good at eating spicy food, but he was still attracted by the fragrant hot pot and was sweating profusely.

"Mr. Fang, I heard that Koreans also bought the publishing rights to the book "My Journey is the Stars and the Sea"?" Osamu Iwagami asked.

"Yes, when I was studying in the United States, I had Kim Dong-wook, the son of Kim Chang-ho, the president of the Korea Daily, with me. He was also very interested in this novel and was willing to buy the Korean copyright. After I returned to China, I The contract was signed." Fang Minghua told the truth.

"What kind of science fiction is there in Korea?" Osamu Iwagami muttered.

Fang Minghua smiled slightly and said nothing.

I think Osamu Iwagami can guess the reason, right?

"Gentlemen." Osamu Iwagami suddenly said: "Just now, Mr. Fang mentioned that he went to South Korea to buy the Korean copyright of the space opera novel he wrote. This reminds me that the science fiction literature of our three countries is like the current Three Kingdoms Go."

When Iwagami Haru mentioned this, everyone listened carefully.

"We in Japan are still at a relatively high level of Go, but China has been catching up. We have first-class players like Nie Weiping, Ma Xiaochun, and Qian Yuping, just like the science fiction world has Mr. Fang, and there are rising stars like Mr. Liu. As for South Korea , science fiction is the same as Go, not worth mentioning.”

“Come, come, let’s drink to Chinese and Japanese science fiction!”

Several people raised their glasses together.

Fang Minghua laughed secretly in his heart.

Korean Go will be on the rise soon! The future will be dominated by China and South Korea. As for science fiction South Korea, it is really not worth mentioning.

The lecture continued in the afternoon, and the people present mainly spoke about science fiction writing and the future of science fiction in my country. Although the speeches were relatively childish, everyone listened attentively.

This is a group of people who really love Chinese science fiction.

At this moment, footsteps suddenly came from outside. Fang Minghua turned around and saw a few people walking in the corridor, led by an old man who was over sixty years old.

"Chairman Ma, are you here?" Yang Xiao hurried out to greet him.

It turned out that Ma Shitu, chairman of the Sichuan Provincial Writers' Association, came here with a group of leaders of the Writers' Association.