Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 671: I have a tired soul in my tired body, so I decided to write a novel to cheer myself up
"Okay, I'll write it when I get back." Fang Minghua agreed.

The Trega Literature Prize award ceremony was held at the St. Mark's Theater in the evening. Fang Minghua of course could no longer wear a T-shirt and shorts casually, but changed into a suit and shirt. Li Li was actually wearing a blue and white porcelain cheongsam!

She is graceful and elegant, and her natural scent of books makes her exude an oriental classical beauty.

It was the first time that Fang Minghua saw Li Li wearing a cheongsam and she was a little stunned.

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

"It looks pretty good." Fang Minghua praised repeatedly.

I muttered to myself.

How many sets of clothes did you bring on this trip?

But it’s not surprising, my wife is the same.

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

St. Mark's Theater is one of the famous opera houses in Italy, not far from the hotel. The two walked over and as soon as they stepped onto the stairs, staff came to greet them. After seeing the invitation, a waiter in a white shirt and bow tie politely led them into the theater.

Walking on the red carpet in the theater aisle, the two immediately attracted the attention of people around them.

Oriental?
There are very few Oriental faces at the Strega Prize ceremony.

More importantly, the men are handsome and the women are beautiful!

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

Among the six novels shortlisted this year, one comes from a mysterious oriental country!
The Strega Prize was created in 1947 by Maria and Goffredo Bellonci. This year's Strega Prize had 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 readers' clubs), totaling 660 votes.

Among the numerous entries, six are recommended as finalists, and then selected by the Steering Committee of the Strega Foundation, who will finally decide who will win the grand prize.

That is to say, only one work is awarded each year.

The themes of the works nominated for the Strega Prize mostly tell 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 disaster it brought to mankind, the problem of terrorism that plagued Europe, the various problems and thoughts encountered during childhood or youth growth, the relationships and conflicts between generations, etc.

Therefore, there are rarely Oriental writers among the award-winning authors, but this time, there was a Chinese writer.

Under the guidance of the staff, the two sat down, and the people next to them immediately responded with a polite smile.

The staff also handed over the program for the award ceremony and an introduction to the shortlisted works.

It’s all in Italian!

Why not have a bilingual version?

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, "Unreal City" by Cristina Marconi, "The Solver" by Pier Paolo Giannino, "I Stay Here" by Marco Balzano, "Too Late" by James Coleman, and your book "Skywalker"."

"Among them, the first four are 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 them all.”

"That's amazing! I haven't even read any of them." Fang Minghua felt a little ashamed.

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

"How's the level?"

"To be honest, the standards are all very high. Especially the English version of James Coleman's "It's Too Late", which just won this year's British Booker Prize for Literature." Huh?
Pretty awesome.

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

"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'm 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 your book "Skywalker", it's very well written." James said again.

Have you seen it?
Fang Minghua looked at Li Li next to him and immediately understood.

People didn't watch the Italian version, but the English version.

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

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

Submit one draft three times, preparing to win three major awards?
However, as the organizer of the Chinese Literature Award, Fang Minghua immediately welcomed him and sincerely wished him the award.

Obviously, 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. I started at 8 a.m. and had to work for 12 hours. When I got home, I was exhausted both physically and mentally and couldn't do anything else."

"But I discovered an important principle of art: a tired mind lives in a tired body, so I decided to write novels to cheer myself up. I got up two hours earlier every day. It was difficult at first, but slowly I developed a habit."

Very interesting man.

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

The Strega Prize ceremony is also very unique. It actually begins with an opera prologue, a clip from "La Traviata"!
The performers were students from the Benevento Conservatory of Music, the same ones Fang Minghua and his friends saw at the conservatory during the day!
The kingdom 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', sung by Pavarotti." Li Li introduced in a low voice.

"Can you sing?"

"Ah."

"Translate into Chinese?"

"sure"

"Sing for me?"

"Okay."

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

Every time a book was introduced, there was warm applause in the venue!
Unfortunately, it was all in Italian and Fang Minghua couldn’t understand it.

Fortunately, Li Li was there this time, a competent translator. While the leader was speaking, she leaned over and whispered in Fang Minghua's ear.

"Minghua is a famous Chinese writer. His novel style is known for its variety. In the early period, most of his works were avant-garde works. He was good at using stream of consciousness and magical realism writing techniques. In the later period, he gradually tended towards realism. This book "Skywalker" is the author's transformation work."

After the introduction, there was another long opera, this time it was "Turandot", with an aria "Nessun Dorma", and then the climax of the award ceremony: the announcement of the winners of this year's Strega Prize.

(End of this chapter)