Back to 80: My Literary Life

"Okay, I'll write it when I get back." Fang Minghua agreed.

In the evening, the Trega Literary Award ceremony was held at the San Marco Theater. Of course, Fang Minghua could no longer wear T-shirts and shorts, but changed into a suit and shirt. Li Li was actually wearing a blue and white porcelain cheongsam!

Graceful and elegant, her bookish aroma exudes an oriental classical beauty.

Fang Minghua was shocked when he saw Li Li wearing a cheongsam for the first time.

"Brother-in-law, do you look good?" Li Li looked at him with a smile.

"It's very beautiful." Fang Minghua praised repeatedly.

I muttered something in my mind.

How many sets of clothes did you bring with you for this trip?

But it’s not surprising that my wife is like this too.

"Let's go." The two of them walked downstairs together.

The San Marco Theater is one of the famous opera houses in Italy and is not far from the hotel. The two of them walked there. As soon as they stepped up the steps, the staff came to greet them immediately. After seeing the invitation, a waiter wearing a white shirt and bow tie The student politely led them into the theater.

Walking down the aisle of the theater on the red carpet, the two immediately caught the attention of those around them.

Oriental?

At the Strega Literary Award Ceremony, Oriental faces were rarely seen.

More importantly, the man is handsome and the woman is beautiful!

Immediately some people started whispering, thinking they were tourists visiting the city, but many people remembered it when they saw the waiter leading the two to the VIP area.

Among the six shortlisted novels this year, one comes from the mysterious Eastern country!

The Strega Prize was founded by Maria and Goffredo Bellonci in 1947. This year’s Strega Prize jury has a large jury, including 400 members of the “Sunday Friends” literary club. 200 voters selected by 20 Italian cultural offices abroad, 40 outstanding readers selected by the Italian Readers Association, and 20 collective voters (including libraries, universities and reading clubs), totaling 660 votes.

Six works are recommended as shortlisted works among the many submitted works, and then they are selected by the Strega Foundation Steering Committee to finally decide who will win the grand prize.

That is to say, only one work will be awarded per year.

Most of the works participating in the Strega Prize are about stories that take place in Italy and Europe.

Such as the causes of the Second World War that caused collective trauma in Europe and the disasters it caused to mankind, the terrorism problem that plagues Europe, various problems and thoughts encountered when growing up as a boy or young adult, and the relationships and conflicts between generations. etc.

Therefore, Eastern writers rarely appear among award-winning authors, but this time, Chinese writers actually appeared.

The two sat down under the guidance of the staff, and the person next to them immediately responded with a polite smile.

The staff also handed over the program list of the awards ceremony and the introduction of the shortlisted works.

It’s all in Italian!

Don't you want to do a bilingual comparison?

Fortunately, there is Li Li.

Fang Minghua secretly rejoiced.

"Brother-in-law, the six works shortlisted this time are "Strange Years" written by Marina Mendel, "Unrealistic City" by Cristina Marconi, "The Solver" by Pierre Paul Gianubillo ”, Marco Balzano’s “Here I Stay,” James Coleman’s “Too Late,” and your copy of “Skywalker.”

"Among them, the first four are all Italian writers, and James Coleman is a British writer." Li Li explained in a low voice.

"Have you seen these shortlisted works?" Fang Minghua asked.

"I've seen it all."

"Awesome, I haven't read any of them." Fang Minghua felt a little ashamed.

"You don't understand Italian. Besides, these works have to compete with your novels. Of course I want to see how they are written?" Li Li said.

"How's the level?"

"To be honest, the standards are very high. In particular, the English version of James Coleman's "It's Too Late" just won this year's British Booker Prize for Literature."

Oh?

Pretty awesome.

"But, brother-in-law, you are also very strong!" Li Liyou quickly cheered Fang Minghua up.

"Hi Hello, are you Mr. Minghua, a Chinese writer?" A man's voice in the back row spoke English.

Fang Minghua turned around and saw a middle-aged white man with a beard looking at him with a smile.

"I am Minghua, who are you?" Fang Minghua answered in English.

"My name is James Coleman, a British writer. Nice to meet you." The other party extended his right hand in a friendly manner.

It turns out to be the author of "It's Too Late"!

"Thank you, me too." The two shook hands.

"Mr. Minghua, I read the book "Skywalker" you wrote. It's very good." James said again.

Have you seen it?

Fang Minghua looked at Li Li next to him and understood immediately.

What people watch is not the Italian version, but the English version.

"Thank you. I'm sorry, I haven't read your "It's Too Late" yet. I hope to see the Chinese version." Fang Minghua said.

"Mr. Minghua, this book "It's Too Late" has been translated into Chinese and has been submitted for the World Chinese Literature Award held in your country. I heard that you initiated the organization, right?

Oops

Awesome.

One draft and three submissions, ready to win three awards?

However, as the organizer of the Chinese Literature Award, Fang Minghua immediately welcomed him and sincerely wished him the award.

Obviously, this James is a talkative person. He talked about his past and said that when he was young, he was not a full-time writer but a driver and the father of two children.

"The work was very tiring at the time. It started at 8 o'clock in the morning and then worked for 12 hours. When I got home, I was physically and mentally exhausted and couldn't do anything else."

"But I discovered an important artistic principle: a tired body lives with a tired mind, so I decided to write a novel to cheer me up. I got up two hours earlier every day. It was difficult at first but gradually became a habit."

Very interesting man.

The two chatted for a while, and suddenly heard applause from around them. Fang Minghua quickly stopped chatting and turned around. It turned out that the award ceremony had begun.

The Strega Awards Ceremony was also very unique. It started with an opera sequence, a clip from "La Traviata"!

The performers were students from the Benevento Conservatory of Music, the same ones that Fang Minghua and the others saw at the academy during the day!

As expected, the country of opera is everywhere

A man and a woman were singing a song in bel canto, but Fang Minghua couldn't understand it.

"It's "Drinking Song", which Pavarotti sang." Li Li introduced in a low voice.

"Can you sing?"

"Um."

"Translated into Chinese?"

"sure"

"Sing to me?"

"OK."

The opera kicked off, and then the host introduced the authors and contents of the six shortlisted books this year.

Every time a book was introduced, the venue burst into warm applause!

Unfortunately, it was all in Italian and Fang Minghua couldn't understand it.

Fortunately, this time I was accompanied by Li Li, a competent translator. From the top, she spoke, and from the bottom, she leaned into Fang Minghua's ear and whispered in the translation.

"Minghua, a famous Chinese writer, is famous for his varied novel styles. In the early years, he mostly wrote avant-garde works. He was good at using stream of consciousness and magical realism writing techniques. Later, he gradually tended to realism. This book "Skywalker" is the author's transformation. work."

After the introduction, there was another large piece of opera, this time it became "Turandot", an aria "Nessun Dorma" came, and then came the climax of the awards ceremony: the announcement of this year's Stray Award-winning works.