December 15, 1982, the weather was sunny and haze-free, and the small auditorium of the People's Hall was crowded with people.
There is still half an hour before the awarding ceremony of the first Mao Dun Literature Prize begins. The jury members, award-winning writers, invited leaders and guests are entering the venue one after another.
For this award ceremony, the Literary and Art Association has exhausted its efforts.
Among the many guests present, there were leaders of relevant ministries and commissions such as culture, publicity, press and publication, leaders of local literary associations, heads of well-known publishing units and literary publications across the country, and many well-known writers, editors, critics...
…
Taking a closer look, there were hundreds of guests attending the award ceremony, all of whom were prominent figures in the domestic cultural circle.
Among them there are also people with high moral prestige and important positions such as Mr. Ba Jin, Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Minister of the Propaganda Department, etc.
Lin Chaoyang entered the venue among the award-winning writers, saying hello all the way into the auditorium. There were too many acquaintances on such an occasion today, so he just said hello for a while.
"Comrade Chaoyang is so popular!" Wei Wei, who was sitting next to Lin Chaoyang, joked after sitting down.
"You are always joking. The main reason is that today's visitors are all people in the industry, so naturally we have more acquaintances."
Lin Chaoyang made a special trip to the Overseas Chinese Hotel yesterday to check in, where he met several other award-winning writers.
A few years ago, "Wreaths Under the Mountain" held a seminar, and Wei Wei was invited to attend, so the two parties knew each other.
Sitting on the other side of Lin Chaoyang was Li Guowen, the author of "Spring in Winter". He was very tall, but his expression was dull and he said nothing.
The two had a few chats last night, and Lin Chaoyang knew that he was not arrogant, but just not good at talking, especially in an unfamiliar environment.
The other four award-winning writers, Yao Xueyin, Zhou Keqin, Gu Hua, and Mo Yingfeng, lined up around the three of them.
Among the seven, Yao and Wei are both seniors in the literary world who are over sixty years old, while Li, Zhou, Mo, and Gu Hua are in their forties or fifties, in their prime.
Only Lin Chaoyang, a young man in his twenties, sat among them, his face covered with collagen, which was particularly eye-catching.
After the conference officially started, it was still the usual leadership speech. Mr. Ba Jin, as the leader of the Cultural Association and the director of the jury, made a speech.
Then it was time to award awards. Lin Chaoyang and seven people sat on the rostrum. One step up, three generations of writers, old, middle and young, gathered together. The seniors in the literary world were all delighted.
The members of the jury sat in the first row under the rostrum. Zhang Guangnian and Feng Mu sat together. The two looked at the people on the stage with some sighs.
"The old comrades are shining brightly, the middle-aged people are the mainstay, and the young people are catching up. The development of the literary world is really booming!"
"Yes, what a great situation! This award is really timely, and it has laid a solid blow for the future development of the literary world."
After listening to Feng Mu's words, Zhang Guangnian nodded slightly.
In the past two years, the name "New Era Literature" has gradually become popular. It corresponds to the "Seventeen Years of Literature" from 1949 to 1976, and is the development process of contemporary Chinese literature since 1976.
If we want to trace the germination of literature in the new era, it should be said that it originated from poetry represented by hazy poetry. This powerful form of literary expression inspired the literary aesthetics of a generation of young people.
Despite the long-term cultural repression, it can still be widely spread through word of mouth.
Then came the rise of short stories and the prosperity of novellas. Under such circumstances, the National Outstanding Short Story and Novella Awards came into being, which successfully stimulated the creative desire of a large number of literary creators and also focused the attention and attention of the broad masses of the people.
favorite.
According to normal creative rules, the creation cycle of full-length novels is much longer than that of short stories. It has been a full six years now, and the first novel award event has finally been born in China, which is in line with the development rules of today's literature.
of.
However, in terms of the overall development of the novel genre, domestic novels as a whole are still in a state of depression.
On this point, Zhang Guangnian and Feng Mu, as judges, are very clear.
In this period when novels are just recovering, the winning works of this Mao Dun Literature Award all have their own problems to a greater or lesser extent.
The binary opposition in "Furong Town", the peasant uprising in "Li Zicheng" (Part 2) turned into an army, the plot in "Xu Mao and His Daughters" is suspected of serving the theme, and "Spring in Winter" has a lot of stream of consciousness,
Many people who have seen the montage technique are often confused and find it difficult to understand...
Thinking of "Spring in Winter", Zhang Guangnian couldn't help but feel a little sorry for Lin Chaoyang.
It is also a stream of consciousness work, whether from the perspective of technique or story, "The Death of Van Gogh" is obviously superior to "Spring in Winter", but in the end it was "Spring in Winter" that won the prize.
Won the prize.
The main reason for the result is that the style of "The Death of Van Gogh" is too Westernized, or liberalized in the words of some comrades.
What it tells is not even the story of a Chinese person, but the story of a foreign artist.
In contrast, "Spring in Winter" tells the story of Yu Erlong, a senior official and director of a large military industrial power plant, who returns to the guerrilla base where he has been away for more than thirty years to find the murderer of his wife.
The novel summarizes the social changes and development of the times in the past forty years by narrating his experiences, sights, associations, memories, etc. during the three days he returned to his hometown. Such a story will undoubtedly be better than "The Death of Van Gogh" in the award process.
More advantages.
Zhang Guangnian couldn't help but think of the heated discussion among the fifteen judges on "The Death of Van Gogh" in the final review stage.
The fifteen judges of the Mao Dun Literary Award are all well-known figures in the Chinese literary world. It is impossible for anyone to convince others with their official hat and seniority.
At that time, Zhang Guangnian felt as if he was dreaming back to the past. You must know that just a few years ago, there were similar people like them.
There has been a protracted debate on whether literary creation after the end of Humming should truly expose and reflect the scars and reality of contemporary Chinese society and whether the mainstream literature of the "Seventeen Years" should be restored, forming two groups: the Xichun school and the Pianzuo school.
Big camp.
This review meeting can almost be said to be a replica of the big debate a few years ago, with both sides insisting on their own opinions and no one can convince the other.
In the end, the result can only be determined by voting. Unfortunately, the Xi Chun faction failed to win this time. Among the members of this jury, the Pioneer faction was dominant, and "The Death of Van Gogh" had to be eliminated.
Perhaps in order to comfort their group of Xi Chun Faction, or out of compensating Lin Chaoyang, the Pianzuo Faction brought out "Chess Saint" for discussion again, and they unanimously agreed that the level of "Chess Saint" was worthy of an award.
Zhang Guangnian recalled the scene at that time, and he was still a little dissatisfied that the stance and narrative perspective of "The Master of Chess" were obviously those of the Pianzuo faction. How could they not see the Pianzuo faction's thoughts?
But this is Lin Chaoyang's work after all, and the writing is indeed very good. Although it is not as outstanding as "The Death of Van Gogh", it is not inferior to those works that have already been determined to win the prize.
Therefore, in the end, several of the old comrades of the Xichun faction had no choice but to accept the result, but they couldn't help but curse the shameless behavior of the Pianzu faction.
How is this different from a teacher threatening parents with their children's future?
he~tui, next work!
Memories flashed through his mind, and Zhang Guangnian's eyes turned to the stage and involuntarily focused on Lin Chaoyang.
"The Death of Van Gogh" was eliminated, but "Chess" also won the award. Isn't this a recognition of him?
What's more, he is still so young!
Not only Zhang Guangnian, but most of the people present looked at Lin Chaoyang on the stage and expressed such emotion in their hearts.
Although it is held for the first time, in a sense, the Mao Dun Literary Award is already the highest award in the Chinese literary world.
Lin Chaoyang is able to stand on the podium at the age of more than 20 years old, and any kind of flattering words applied to him cannot be overstated.
Especially when there is a group of middle-aged and elderly writers standing next to him. In this year's atmosphere, these people seem to have become his foil.
"This boy is so lucky to win prizes!" Li Tuo sat in the audience and sighed to Wang Meng next to him.
"It can't be said that it's luck. Without the support of outstanding creative talents and works, how can we always win such awards!"
The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. Wang Meng was just stating the facts, but Li Tuo, who had not written a novel for a long time, felt something bad in his heart and lost interest in talking.
Although his brother's success made him happy, his own failure was even more difficult for him to accept.
It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter, I just put all my energy into the movie.
On the rostrum, the guests responsible for awarding awards include members of the jury, leaders of cultural associations and leaders of ministries and commissions. The winning prizes are still a three-piece set - certificate, bonus, and commemorative booklet.
The difference is that the prize money this time is much richer than the previous prizes for winning the National Outstanding Short Story and Novella Awards, which is a full 3,000 yuan.
The prize money for the Mao Dun Literary Award comes from the 250,000 yuan in manuscript fees donated by Mr. Mao Dun before his death. In order to create a sufficiently authoritative literary awards event, the Literary and Art Association did not hesitate to spend a lot of money. Each winner will receive a bonus of 3,000 yuan.
.
There are seven winning works in this year's Mao Dun Literature Award, and the prize amount is as high as 21,000 yuan, which is almost 1/12 of Mr. Mao Dun's inheritance.
Such a generous reward has also greatly enhanced the reputation of this new award, the Mao Dun Literature Award, to a certain extent.
Each person placed a thick stack of large dumplings on a tray, which was a bit tacky but full of visual impact.
In this era when the per capita income level has not yet exceeded 60 yuan, a bonus of 3,000 yuan is equivalent to the income of an ordinary working class person without food or water for four or five years. It can be said to be a sky-high bonus.
Even some well-known writers with good incomes will take a year or two to earn these royalties.
Now that you have earned an award, how can this not make the writers on stage happy?
Writers are also human beings, and they also need to eat, drink, and relieve themselves. Everyone is equally happy to receive the bonus.
Everyone was smiling happily, but Lin Chaoyang's expression was calm. A reporter recorded this scene with a camera.
Lin Chaoyang is not pretending to be reserved, but his income from manuscript royalties has always been very high, so it is difficult for him to be excited by this bonus.
After the awards were given, everyone spoke in turn, and then Zhou Yang spoke again, affirming the final result of the award, calling it "a review of the first commemorative novels in the new socialist era, which generally represents the modern novels."
achievements".
After the conference, more than 600 people from the cultural circles present took a group photo, which took a lot of trouble.
After having a meal in the sea at noon, there was a symposium in the afternoon. Lin Chaoyang became one of the focuses of everyone's attention. Both his works and himself were talked about many times by the judges and guests present.
In the middle of the symposium, Wang Meng suddenly asked Mr. Ba Jin, "It is said that there are eight works in the final review list this time. These days, everyone has been discussing which work failed. Can the director give us some answers?"
?”
The reason why Wang Meng asked suddenly was because he was bewitched by Li Tuo during the award ceremony in the morning. Li Tuo kept mumbling this question in his ears. Wang Meng was also curious, so he took advantage of the judges at the symposium to ask
came out.
After he asked the question, the originally lively discussion suddenly became quiet, and everyone turned their attention to Ba Jin.
Seven works won awards in this edition of the awards, which is a bit too many, but it is also in line with the traditional award-winning style in the literary world.
However, there have been private rumors in the literary world recently that the final review list is eight, and one of the eight works in total has been eliminated.
Everyone was curious about who the unlucky guy who was eliminated was. Wang Meng's question also revealed what was on everyone's mind.
Seeing everyone's attention, Mr. Ba Jin calmly took a sip of the tea in front of him.
"This question..."
Chapter completed!