Chapter 169 People's Literature
National Federation of Literary and Art Circles, a ministerial-level unit.
The National Excellent Short and Medium-length Novels Selection is hosted by such a ministerial unit, so the standards are naturally not low. Even the award ceremony is held in an important state-owned place.
In recent years, perhaps in an effort to make up for the unfair treatment received by cultural figures in previous years, domestic literati have received unprecedented courtesy.
Lin Weimin got up early in the morning, dressed neatly, went to the Chinese Literature Society to pick up Lu Yao, and then went to the award ceremony venue.
His small motorcycle usually travels through the streets and alleys of Yanjing City without any restraint, but today it can only be parked far away outside the gate of the award ceremony hall.
The security measures are very strict, which makes the atmosphere solemn.
Lin Weimin saw many familiar faces after entering the door.
"Hello, Teacher Wang!"
"Comrade Xiaolin, long time no see!"
The old man Wang Meng smiled when he saw Lin Weimin. He had a deep impression of Lin Weimin, the most mischievous boy in the Institute of Literature and Art.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Lin Weimin saw the silver-haired Wei Junyi again, "Hello, editor-in-chief! Hello, chief editor!"
"Yeah!" Wei Junyi nodded.
In addition to Wei Junyi, Qin Chaoyang also came to the Guowen Press today. He is the editor-in-chief of "Contemporary". Many people from "Contemporary" won awards today.
After saying a few words, Lin Weimin saw Jiang Zilong, Huang Anyi, Jin Ying and others coming over, and he quickly waved to greet them.
When I introduced Lu Yao to a few people, everyone looked at him with some surprise. Life had become so famous in the six months since it was published, and he, as the author, had become extremely famous.
More and more people gathered at the entrance of the hall. The winners this time were writers from all over the country. Who among them didn’t have a few good friends?
In addition to the award-winning writers, the chief editors and editors of major literary magazines across the country, leaders and cadres of the Literary Association, and comrades from various co-organizing units are all here today.
Just like Lin Weimin, everyone always says hello when they meet each other, right?
After just a few words of greeting, the stairs leading to the meeting hall were blocked.
There was a lot of noise at the entrance of the synagogue for a while, and suddenly there was a commotion in the distance.
Immersed in the atmosphere of a reunion among old friends, everyone looked in that direction, not knowing what had happened.
It wasn't until a while later that news came from the people in front.
"Ba Lao is here!"
With a "boom" sound, Lin Weimin felt that the people who were originally scattered at the door of the hall instantly turned into a swarm of bees and rushed towards the direction where the news came from.
There were shouts from not far away: "Everyone, don't push, don't push!" "Be safe, watch your step!"
Lin Weimin quickly pulled a few people around him and ran away, "Wow, this is too enthusiastic!"
Jiang Zilong smiled and said, "There's nothing I can do about it. This is a living legend."
He looked at Lin Weimin and smiled: "If your teacher could come here, he would be treated the same way."
Lin Weimin shook his head. "Sir, you are from the theater circle after all. You can't compare to Ba Lao's appeal here."
Lu Yao looked in the direction of Ba Lao with eyes full of longing. Lin Weimin joked: "Shouldn't we say at this time, can he take his place?"
The people around laughed loudly. Jiang Zilong said, "You kid, if someone hears you, they will say you are crazy!"
The crowd not far away, after surging like a wave just now, finally began to flow smoothly. At the front, a few security guards were escorting a short old man, and the crowd moved with the old man, like a tide.
Lin Weimin stood outside the crowd and glanced at the old man. Although he had never seen the old man in person, he had seen his photos in various news reports, materials, and books in the past two years, so he naturally knew him.
After the old man entered the hall, the crowd also began to slowly enter the hall, and Lin Weimin also said, "Let's go in too."
"Let's go, let's go!"
Everyone climbed the stairs and entered the solemn and dignified building.
The venue is very large and can easily accommodate one or two thousand people.
Lin Weimin stood on the stairs and took a look. There were about two to three hundred people coming today, mainly concentrated in the front half of the hall. The back of the hall seemed a bit empty.
The buzz in the venue lasted for a few minutes, and after everyone took some time to sit down, it gradually quieted down.
On the stage, the members of the selection committee took their seats, and in the first few rows below the stage sat the leaders of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, the Ministry of Culture, and the award-winning writers.
Lin Weimin was sitting in the second row, and several other acquaintances were scattered in the second and third rows. Only Huang Anyi was closest to him.
On March 27 last year, Mr. Shen passed away. He served as the head of the National Federation of Literary and Art Circles for 35 years. After his death, Ba Lao temporarily took over the responsibility of the head of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles and served as the acting head of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles.
As Ba Lao was speaking on the stage, the faces of the award-winning writers below gradually became serious. Lin Weimin felt that Huang Anyi beside him seemed to be getting nervous as well.
The speeches were not long. After Ba Lao, the representative of the Cultural Association, finished speaking, several comrades from the co-organizing units spoke, and the speeches were kept brief.
In less than half an hour, the speeches were over and the award ceremony officially began.
The first award was the National Excellent Short Story Award. There were 20 winners of this Excellent Short Story Award. They stepped onto the rostrum one by one and stood in the center of the stage. Ba Lao and other leaders of the Cultural Association and comrades from the Ministry of Culture presented the awards to them.
Many comrades looked nervous and excited. Lin Weimin and several others cheered for Jiang Zilong, Jin Ying and others in the audience. Others in the audience also applauded, and the atmosphere was warm.
After the awards were presented, the winning writers had to say a few words. There were too many winners and it was impossible for them to speak one by one, so only one or two representatives could be found. Ba Lao called out their names and chose Jiang Zilong and Jin Ying, a man and a woman, who were very representative.
Jin Ying's speech was quite standard, but when it came to Jiang Zilong's turn, he was a show-off.
"My last name is Jiang Zilong, and I am from Cangzhou, Hebei. I have practiced martial arts since I was young and have mastered several sets of punches and kicks. I am 1.83 meters tall, so it is no problem for me to deal with a few brave men. This time in Beijing, I was ordered to serve as the head of security for two beautiful female writers in our Institute of Literature Research. As a head of this department, I dare not slack off..."
The audience burst into laughter at his speech. Ba Lao listened to his speech with a smile on his face and said, "I won't point at you next time I go on stage!"
Jiang Zilong will be on stage later. His work "Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple" won the Outstanding Novella Award.
The venue was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
After the speeches, the winning writers returned to their seats and the award ceremony for the Outstanding Novella Award was held next.
The number of winners this time is five more than that of the short story award. Less than a few minutes later, the familiar face Jiang Zilong came on stage again. The people in the audience couldn't help but smile when they thought of what Ba Lao had just said.
More than 20 award winners stood in a row on the rostrum, including men and women, old and young. Lin Weimin was very eye-catching among them because he was the youngest here and the young man was tall and handsome.
When it was the representative's turn to speak, Ba Lao's eyes wandered among the crowd, and after a few seconds they locked onto Lin Weimin and Huang Anyi.
"Come on, Comrade Lin Weimin from Yanjing, and Comrade Huang Anyi from Shanghai. You two, one man and one woman, one from the south and one from the north, are the youngest among our group, so you are just right to be the representatives for the speech."
Ba Lao's naming was to promote young people, just like he asked Jin Ying to speak just now.
And what a coincidence, the four speakers at Ba Laodian were all the fifth batch of students after the Institute of Literature and Art Research resumed its operation. The Institute of Literature and Art Research is a directly affiliated institution of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles. Lin Weimin had all sorts of thoughts in his mind.
Lin Weimin and Huang Anyi stood up after hearing Ba Lao's call. He glanced at the somewhat nervous Huang Anyi and whispered, "Let me go first."
He walked to the table in the center of the podium, picked up the microphone, and looked at the people below.
Over the past year or so, Lin Weimin has become famous in the domestic literary world. Most of the people in the audience were seeing his true face for the first time, and their eyes were full of curiosity and scrutiny.
"Hello, seniors and colleagues. I am Lin Weimin. Today is the award ceremony. I am very happy to have won the award. Many acquaintances have also come. It is even more exciting to meet old friends again.
I am a junior in the field of literary creation, and today I would like to express my personal expectations for the future of this industry without any hesitation.
I hope that our literature will always be the people’s literature, and will always be popular among ordinary people. I also hope that many predecessors and colleagues can be inspired to write more popular works to nourish the spirit of our people and shape their character!
Thank you everyone! "
Lin Weimin's speech was short, but every word was powerful, especially the two sentences "I hope our literature will always be the people's literature, and will always be popular among the common people", which resonated greatly among the people in the venue.
Ba Lao praised: "Comrade Weimin spoke very well. Our literature was born among the people and we should never forget our roots. I hope we can all keep them in mind."
There was warm applause in the conference hall.
When it was Huang Anyi's turn to speak, she was still a little nervous. She tried her best to thank everyone she could think of in her speech with a slight Shanghai accent, even remembering Lin Weimin.
The people in the meeting hall all smiled knowingly at the young female comrade.
After finally finishing her speech, Huang Anyi returned to her seat, feeling a little annoyed.
My performance was really bad. Look at how well and generous Lin Weimin performed just now!
“Very good!”
A warm voice came from beside her. Huang Anyi turned her head and met Lin Weimin's eyes with shyness.
After the novella award was presented, the award ceremony came to an end.
There was a group photo session at the end, which took more than half an hour to finish.
After another speech, Ba Lao, as the leader of the Literary Association, announced the end of the conference.
Everyone in the venue left one after another.
Wei Junyi called Lin Weimin and took him to the reception hall next to the venue.
Here, Lin Weimin met Ba Lao again.
Ba Lao was talking to someone else. When he saw the two of them, he smiled and said, "Look, our comrade Junyi has brought some cadres from the Guowen Society. Comrade Weimin is the editor of Contemporary now, right?"
Lin Weimin nodded and said, "Yes."
Wei Junyi smiled and said, "I brought this Monkey King to see you. Didn't you talk about serving the people before the meeting just now?"
Lin Weimin was surprised. Did Ba Lao mention him before the meeting?
"I heard in Shanghai that your Contemporary magazine has produced a talented person. No wonder Contemporary magazine has developed by leaps and bounds this year. Its sales have long surpassed our Harvest." Ba Lao said jokingly.
When other parents praise their children, Wei Junyi would naturally be modest, "He is not a celebrity at all, he is just a young man who is always impatient."
"Comrade Weimin is a good candidate. I have watched Farewell My Concubine. It has both storytelling and thought-provoking qualities. It is a rare work that takes both into account."
Lin Weimin hurriedly said, "Mr. Ba, you are too kind."
After praising Lin Weimin for a few words, Ba Lao said to Wei Junyi: "This time, your Chinese Literature Society has made a big splash!"
Ba Lao was referring to the number of awards won by works published in the magazine under Guowen Publishing House this time.
In this National Excellent Short and Medium Story Award, 4 novellas from Contemporary Magazine won awards, 1 novella from People's Literature won awards, and 5 short stories won awards, accounting for more than one-fifth of the awards alone. It can be said to be the biggest winner of this National Excellent Short and Medium Story Award.
The Harvest, a publication founded by Ba Lao, had three novellas win awards in this ceremony.
Another major award winner was October, also published by Yenching, which is also a first-tier domestic literary magazine. Five of its novellas won the Outstanding Novella Award.
If the Guowen Society is fighting like an army group, then October is fighting like an independent regiment, and its combat power is truly terrifying.
With Wei Junyi's introduction, Lin Weimin also met Su Yu, the editor-in-chief of October. She was over 50 years old and looked younger than Wei Junyi. She spoke very forcefully and with a resoluteness.
(End of this chapter)
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