The literary era since 1979

Chapter 262 National Excellent New Poetry Award

After reading the invitation letter from beginning to end, Fangyan was still confused and had many questions.

This international writing project is like the moon. I have no idea how to eat, live, or research.

Fortunately, Wang Meng, who has experienced this, answered them one by one.

"Most of the funding for the writers comes from donations from Ms. Nie and her husband."

"It's not easy for this program to continue. They have put a lot of effort into it. We must not let them down."

"I understand, Mr. Wang."

Fangyan felt relieved and decided to accept the invitation.

Then, I came to October Literature and Art Publishing House from Renwen Publishing House.

A four-story red brick building, the first floor is the lobby, conference room, and reception room, and the editorial office of October is on the second floor.

After knocking on the door of the editor-in-chief's office and reporting the situation truthfully to Su Yu, I saw her flipping through the invitation letter written in English.

"This is a rare opportunity. How long will it take?"

“Maybe I’ll be in the U.S. for three to four months.”

Fangyan said that in the last month, you can decide whether to stay or leave, you can travel to various parts of the United States, or go back home directly.

"Then it would be best to stay for the full four months before coming back."

Su Yu waved his hand.

Fang Yan said, "I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do there, but there is one thing I've already thought of, which is to take this opportunity to see if I can get an appointment with these foreign writers to publish some foreign literary works in October."

“That’s a good idea!”

Su Yu's eyes lit up, and then he thought of this international writing program. Since writers from all over the world were invited, he should also make good use of this platform and pay more attention to the trends and directions of world literature.

Fangyan nodded and smiled without saying anything.

Su Yu stood up and took him to get the approval certificate from his unit. "It's not easy to get a passport. Go and get it done quickly."

"Thank you, Editor-in-Chief."

Fangyan took the certificate and went to the Public Security Bureau.

In the 80s, there was no direct transportation between the mainland and Taiwan and the West, so it was necessary to first go through Hong Kong and then go to other countries from Hong Kong.

At that time, there was a quota limit for going to Hong Kong.

There are many applicants, few places allocated, the waiting time is long, and the review of those going abroad is quite strict.

Soon, Fangyan felt how strict it was.

Go to the Exit and Entry Administration to handle a series of formalities, including issuing a unit approval certificate, presenting overseas invitation materials, providing financial guarantee certificates, handling notarization, submitting translation materials...

According to the requirements on the form, just for the political review item, one must go through the political review of the unit, the neighborhood committee, the office, the local police station, etc., and there are a lot of official seals to be stamped.

There are also a lot of forms to fill out, and the whole family has to fill them out.

The contact information of all family members must be left behind to avoid extreme situations such as being stranded abroad or even rebelling.

The application forms are numbered and cannot be corrected if filled out incorrectly.

If there is a mistake, you need to collect the form again and get it stamped again.

Therefore, Fangyan first copied some forms and tried to fill them out himself. After filling them out, he asked the staff of the Entry-Exit Administration to help check them. Only if they were qualified would he dare to copy them onto the official form.

Before that, Fang Yan went to Yenching University first.

The surface of Weiming Lake was sparkling, and the lawn on the shore was filled with Yan University students, sitting in circles.

Bai Ruoxue sat in the middle, holding a guitar, accompanying her good sister, while Tang Shengnan sang "On the Banks of Lake Baikal" skillfully.

Yu Minhong stared blankly at the goddess through the gap in the crowd.

The moving singing echoed on the lawn.

"A lot of people."

Fangyan stood at the outermost edge of the crowd and couldn't help but sigh.

Yu Minhong recognized his face immediately with a glance and couldn't help but exclaimed, "Teacher Fang!?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the sound of the piano suddenly stopped.

"Teacher Fang is here!"

The whole audience was in an uproar and looked in the direction of the sound.

Haizi, Luo Yihe, Xichuan and others stood up immediately.

"Hello students."

Facing the crowd coming towards him, Fangyan greeted them with a smile.

"Teacher Fang, you're here just in time."

Luo Yihe said they were sharing each other's poems.

In particular, the poetry collections created by Haizi and others.

"Oh!"

As soon as Fangyan heard the word "Haizi", he immediately became interested.

Haizi was extremely excited and handed the booklet over, "Teacher Fang, this is the collection of poems I wrote, please take a look."

As the director of the contemporary literature editorial department, Fangyan naturally has to look for more and better poems for the poetry section of October.

Looking closely, I saw that the title of the book was "Small Station".

Signed: Cha Haisheng.

With the help of his classmates, Haizi compiled and printed his first mimeographed poetry collection at his own expense, which included 25 poems.

Looking up, "Mr. Haizi, if possible, would you be willing to publish these poems in our October?"

"Ah?" Haizi was stunned and didn't react for a moment.

There were cries of envy from the crowd.

Bai Ruoxue and Luo Yihe were both anxious, and said in unison that Haizi had already agreed to give the work to their "Poetry Exploration" for publication. Teacher Fang, you can't take away someone else's love!

"That's right."

When Fangyan saw Haizi nod awkwardly, he gave up the idea of ​​snatching the manuscript and said with a smile: "Then just pretend that I didn't say anything just now."

"call."

Bai Ruoxue, Luo Zihe and others breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ruoxue, come with me."

Seeing Teacher Fang calling Bai Ruoxue over alone, Yu Minhong's eyes were full of envy. He only dared to watch from a distance and did not dare to get close.

Bai Ruoxue asked: "Teacher Fang, do you think Haizi's poetry collection has a chance to be selected for the National Outstanding New Poetry Award?"

"I'm not sure about that."

Fangyan handed over the invitation.

In recent years, the poetry world has experienced unprecedented prosperity, so the National Writers Association established the "National Excellent New Poetry (Poetry Collection) Award" this year.

The registration requirements are quite strict, and only poetry collections are evaluated, not individual pieces.

Moreover, it is useless for individuals to publish and edit books. They must be recommended by provincial writers' associations and national literary publishing houses according to allocated quotas.

The total number of films recommended each time is 200.

The selected expert team will then submit to the judging committee a list of recommended books that is one or two times the number of awards, with each recommended poetry collection accompanied by a 500-word recommendation for the judges' reference.

The poems in dialect were collected by "Yenching Literature" and a collection of poems was published first, named "Love Life".

Now, it has been recommended for this year's National Outstanding New Poetry Award.

“I think your collection of poetry will win a prize.”

Bai Ruoxue sometimes read the letter and sometimes looked at him.

"Haha, let me lend you some good words."

Fangyan smiled, turned around and asked her if she was willing to go.

Bai Ruoxue said seriously, "Teacher Fang, I want to go!"

"This time I'm going to the United States for three or four months instead of one or two days," Fang Yan said. "You need to think clearly about whether it will affect your studies and whether the school will agree."

Bai Ruoxue said that she would ask Bai Yaoshan for his opinion later.

"This matter requires his consent."

"Then Mr. Fang, do you want me to go?"

"Of course I want us to go together."

Fang Yan said: "You know me well. My English level can only cope with daily life. If I encounter any academic exchanges, I have to rely on professionals like you to help me translate."

Bai Ruoxue said: "I am also happy to be your translator. To be honest, I really don't want to miss this kind of international event."

"If your grandfather agrees..."

Fangyan handed her the photocopied form and took out a bundle of foreign exchange certificates. "Here's the money."

"Teacher Fang, what are you doing?"

Bai Ruoxue was extremely surprised.

“This is your royalties.”

Fangyan said that Mike felt that he was just a figurehead and that all the royalties from the translation of "Saving Private Ryan" should go to Bai Ruoxue.

"This this……"

Bai Ruoxue blinked and hesitated for a moment.

"Don't refuse."

Fangyan raised his hand and said that when he went to the United States, he couldn't pay in RMB for something he wanted to buy.

Nowadays, if you want to study abroad or visit relatives, you need to exchange foreign exchange coupons for US dollars. Even the registration fee for the TOEFL exam must be paid in US dollars.

"Thank you, Teacher Fang."

Upon hearing this, Bai Ruoxue took it.

"You're welcome. This is what you deserve."

Fangyan gave the foreign exchange coupons he had saved.

The royalties from "Saving Private Ryan" are still in the account that Old Mike created for himself, and this money cannot be touched.

Bai Ruoxue pointed at the book in his hand and said, "Teacher Fang, can I have the English version of Saving Private Ryan..."

"you want?"

Fangyan raised his eyebrows.

“Well, this is my first published book.”

Bai Ruoxue said: "I want to keep it as a souvenir."

Fangyan signed his name as she requested.

Looking at the two of them talking and laughing, Yu Minhong sighed quietly. Just like before, every time a little spark of impulse popped up in his mind, it was extinguished by a bucket of cold water.

How could a goddess like her be interested in me?
That's it!

It would be great if I could be like Teacher Fang one day...

(End of this chapter)