Guests, mentors, and friends at the event. All images in this article are from the WeChat public account of Nanjing University School of Liberal Arts.
Four茅盾文学奖 (Mao Dun Literature Award) winners, Sun Ganlu, Li Er, Dongxi, and Qiao Ye, officially joined Nanjing University as mentors in the creative writing industry.
According to the WeChat public account “Nanjing University School of Liberal Arts,” on November 21, a ceremony was held in the lecture hall of Nanjing University School of Liberal Arts to announce the appointments of four renowned contemporary writers, Sun Ganlu, Li Er, Dongxi, and Qiao Ye, as mentors for the Chinese New Literature Research Center of Nanjing University and the creative writing industry of Jiangsu Writers’ Institute. Professor Dong Xiao, Dean of Nanjing University School of Liberal Arts and Director of the Chinese New Literature Research Center of Nanjing University, presided over the opening ceremony. Sun Leqiang, Minister of Propaganda Department of the Nanjing University Party Committee, issued appointment letters to the four writers and took group photos with them.
Zhang Guangmang, Executive Director of the Chinese New Literature Research Center of Nanjing University, said in his speech that the gathering of five茅盾文学奖 (Mao Dun Literature Award) winners (Editor’s note: The fifth is Professor Bi Feiyu from Nanjing University School of Liberal Arts) was truly a literary feast. He pointed out that since its establishment 110 years ago, Nanjing University School of Liberal Arts has upheld the noble missions of highlighting the essence of the national spirit and exploring the spiritual driving force for national development, nurturing a large number of outstanding writers such as Zhao Benfu, Ye Zhaoyan, Zhu Sujin, Chu Fujin, Shen Fuyu, and Ge Liang.
Professor Dong Xiao, Dean of Nanjing University School of Liberal Arts, presided over the event.
Subsequently, Zhang Guangmang introduced to the guests the achievements of Jiangsu Writers’ Institute and the Chinese New Literature Research Center of Nanjing University in developing the discipline of creative writing, cultivating literary writers, promoting literary exchanges, and building peaks in literature and art. He said that with the right environment, talented people will naturally gather. It was the joint efforts of Nanjing University School of Liberal Arts, Jiangsu Writers’ Institute, and the Chinese New Literature Research Center of Nanjing University that enabled them to honorably appoint the four renowned contemporary writers as mentors for creative writing at Nanjing University. Their joining will also enhance the creative city network construction of Nanjing as the “World City of Literature” and contribute more to the globalization of Chinese literature and Chinese writers’ efforts to tell Chinese stories to the world.
Professor Zhang Guangmang delivered a welcome speech.
Addressing the previous notion that “Chinese departments do not cultivate writers,” Bi Feiyu, Vice Chairman of the China Writers Association, Chairman of the Jiangsu Provincial Writers Association, winner of the Mao Dun Literature Award, and Professor at Nanjing University School of Liberal Arts, believed in his speech that writing can be learned and taught, just like the mentor-apprentice tradition in various industries worldwide. Using himself as an example, he said his biggest regret was not receiving systematic and in-depth writing education when he was young. Bi Feiyu pointed out that Nanjing University has always valued its tradition of literary education, co-founding Jiangsu Writers’ Institute with the Jiangsu Provincial Writers Association, and today, it welcomes four renowned writers as industry mentors, which is a joyous occasion.
Professor Bi Feiyu delivered a speech.
After the appointment ceremony, moderated by Zhang Guangmang, the five Mao Dun Literature Award winners, Sun Ganlu, Li Er, Dongxi, Qiao Ye, and Bi Feiyu, engaged in dialogues and exchanges on topics such as teaching experience in “creative writing,” personal writing experience, and the relationship between works and the times.
According to public information, Sun Ganlu was born in Shanghai in 1959 and gained fame with his debut work “Visiting Dreams” in 1986, regarded as a representative writer of the “avant-garde” fiction. In August 2023, his novel “A Thousand-Mile Landscape” won the 11th Mao Dun Literature Award. He currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Federation of Literary and Art Circles and Vice Chairman of the Shanghai Writers Association.
Li Er was born in Jiyuan, Henan in 1966 and currently serves as Professor at the Institute of Literary Studies, Peking University, Chairman of the Beijing Writers Association, and former Deputy Director of the Modern Chinese Literature Museum. He is a representative figure in contemporary Chinese creative writing, with representative works including the novels “Huaqiang” and “Yingwuxiong.” He won the 10th Mao Dun Literature Award in 2019.
Dongxi, whose real name is Tian Dailin, was born in Tian’e County, Hechi City, Guangxi in 1966. He currently serves as Chairman of the Guangxi Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Chairman of the Guangxi Writers Association, and Director of the Center for Literary and Film Creation at Guangxi University for Nationalities. In 1992, he officially adopted the pen name “Dongxi” and published the novel “Fantasy Village” in the magazine “Huacheng,” marking his entry into the literary world and the beginning of his writing career. In August 2023, Dongxi won the 11th Mao Dun Literature Award for his novel “Echo.”
Qiao Ye was born in Xiuwu County, Henan in 1972 and currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Beijing Writers Association and Member of the All-China Writers Association Committee. She mainly engages in novel and prose writing, with representative works including “The Slowest Is Living,” “Confession,” and “Distracted.” She won the 11th Mao Dun Literature Award in 2023 for her work “Baoshui.”
In 2018, the Jiangsu Provincial Writers Association and Nanjing University School of Liberal Arts jointly established Jiangsu Writers’ Institute and officially set up a professional master’s degree program in “Drama-Creative Writing” based on Nanjing University School of Liberal Arts. So far, 129 graduate students in creative writing have been enrolled. In 2024, it began enrolling doctoral students in creative writing.
Following the joint establishment of the “Chinese University Creative Writing Alliance” by nine universities including Peking University, Beijing Normal University, Fudan University, East China Normal University, Nanjing University, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tongji University, and Renmin University of China last year, “Chinese Creative Writing” was officially listed as a second-level discipline in Chinese Language and Literature at the beginning of this year. The WeChat public account “Nanjing University School of Liberal Arts” stated that the sharing of writing and teaching experiences by the five Mao Dun Literature Award winners will surely have a profound impact on the development of this new discipline.