Back to 80: My Literary Life

Li Bihua's representative work is "Farewell My Concubine", which was made into a movie by Chen Kaige and won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival.

In addition, "Green Snake" and "Dumplings" were later adapted into movies. Among them, "Dumplings" was starred by famous film and television stars such as Miriam Yeung and Tony Leung Ka Fai, and won the Hong Kong Film Awards, setting a record for the highest box office of genre films of the year.

Qi Jun's "Oranges Are Red" was later adapted into movies and TV series. The most famous one is the TV series directed by Li Shaohong and starred by Gui Yalei, Zhou Xun, Huang Lei and others.

Luo Fu also came to participate in the award with his poetry collection "Moonlight House"!

A famous modern poet, known as the "Poetry Demon" by the poetry world! This is a Taiwanese poet who is as famous as Yu Guangzhong and Zheng Yuchou.

Oh, Luo Fu's poetry collection is also participating in the award, and Haizi's "Haizi's Short and Medium Poems" is facing a huge threat!

It turned out that the literary work sent to the jury by Shengshi Book Publishing Company under the name of Hainan Publishing House was the "Selected Short and Medium-length Poems of Haizi" published in 1990.

It is a strong competitor in the poetry category of this award.

Originally, Shengshi Book Publishing Company had two other books that could be shown off, namely Fang Minghua's novel "Skywalker" and the essay collection "Fragments of Civilization", but Fang Minghua was a member of the reading class so he had to give up.

To be honest, Fang Minghua was still very optimistic about Haizi's poetry collection.

But with Luo Fu's poetry collection, will there be any changes in the future?

Of course, this is the jury's business, and Fang Minghua cannot interfere.

Fang Minghua simply flipped through these books and said with a smile: "Most of these works are written by female writers. I suggest that you can study them well."

"Let me take a look at this "Dumplings" first!" Wang Zi took the book without hesitation.

Li Yinghong took a look and found that she actually took Xixi's "Mourning the Breast".

Fang Minghua only suggested, never forced.

With these works from Hong Kong and Taiwan, he believes that other publishers in Hong Kong and Taiwan will also produce their own masterpieces.

Now he is thinking about overseas.

Are there any submissions from Japan, the UK, or the US?

San Francisco, USA.

After Li Li finished the last class of the summer literature camp in college today, she took the handouts and went to the school parking lot to drive her Ford car back to her residence.

Fang Minghua gave her 100,000 US dollars and bought the house for 86,000 US dollars. It is an 80-square-meter bungalow with a small yard.

It is located in a community near Lake Merced Avenue east of the school. Although the house is not big, the environment here is beautiful and Li Li likes it very much.

Although she is married in name, she actually lives here alone.

It is no different from before marriage. In addition to attending classes, she occasionally visits her classmate Demi who studies in London, and spends most of her time translating novels from China.

She and the translation team composed of Howard Goldblatt and several colleagues use their spare time to translate a large number of works by emerging writers in China. Like Mo Yan, Yu Hua, Can Xue, Su Tong, etc., foreigners can also see the literary power of the new generation of Chinese writers.

Of course, she translated the most works of Fang Minghua. Just now, she finished translating the book "Twilight".

Li Li couldn't understand why Fang Minghua could write such a touching love novel?

"The Bridges of Madison County" and "Ghost".

Whether it was her understanding of Fang Minghua or her cousin Tangtang's words, Fang Minghua did not seem to be a man with rich emotions.

His hobbies were more like those of a middle-aged man: drinking tea, playing mahjong, practicing calligraphy, listening to songs and Qinqiang, and reading books.

Dance halls, video halls, and the card halls that are now emerging in China are almost insulated from him.

But no matter what, Li Li just likes to read what he writes.

There are serious works and more popular novels.

Li Li found her Ford car, opened the door and was about to get into the driver's seat when she suddenly saw a middle-aged white man with a beard walking towards her.

The face was unfamiliar, not like a school teacher.

Li Li suddenly became a little nervous.

The public security in San Francisco is not good, so she rarely wanders around alone, especially at night.

But this is a university campus, so it is relatively better.

The other party walked to her car and stopped, and seemed very polite. He asked in English with a western accent: "Are you Miss Li Li?"

"Yes, I am. May I ask who you are?"

"My name is Robert Oren Butler, and I am a writer." The other party introduced himself.

Robert Oren Butler?

Li Li was surprised to hear this.

She had heard of this name.

Butler is also a very famous writer in the United States. His short stories have been selected for the annual "Best American Short Stories" and have won awards such as the National Magazine Novel Award.

His novels have a common feature, which is related to an experience of his.

In the late 1960s, he enlisted in the army to participate in the Vietnam War, and worked in intelligence and translation in the US military stationed in Vietnam.

And this experience became the source of his writing, so many of his works are about the Vietnam War.

Since the other party was a writer, Li Li's vigilance was slowly put away, and she asked with a smile: "Hello, Mr. Butler, what do you want to talk to me about?"

"Ms. Li Li, I heard that you are a famous translator, very good at translating Chinese and English works. So I would like to ask you to translate one of my novels. I want to participate in a literary award held in China."

After that, Butler took out a newspaper from his briefcase and handed it to Li Li. It was the New York Times that published the call for articles.

great.

My brother-in-law is still worried about whether any foreign writers will contribute!

Li Li was secretly happy, but she still kept a calm smile on her face: "Can you bring me your novel?"

Butler immediately took out another pile of manuscripts from his briefcase and handed it to Li Li.

It’s actually a printed version and hasn’t been published yet!

She looked at the title of the novel "AGoodScentFromAStrangeMountain" again

It is a short story, not long in content. Li Li probably read it once. It is written in the first person. A Vietnamese immigrant narrates their life in the United States and the pain the war has brought to them.

Oh

Isn't my cousin currently filming a TV series "Yanjing People in New York" in New York?

This short story is about Vietnamese life in the United States. It is a reflection on the Vietnam War and the sadness of separation in the world.

Hmm. It looks pretty good at first glance.

After reading, Li Li raised her head and looked at each other. "Mr. Butler, I can translate it into Chinese for you."

"Great! I hope as soon as possible, I will pay you for the translation fee." Butler said quickly.

"OK!, I'll do it as soon as possible."

The two left each other's phone numbers, and Li Li said she would call him after the translation was completed.

"thanks, thanks."

After Butler left, Li Li was also very happy.

Hurry up and translate it and send it back to China!