Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 52 The last reserve of Fuhai Writers Association!

At the monthly meeting of the Fuhai Writers Association, after discussing various routine matters, the chairman, Chang Tian, ​​suddenly raised a topic -

Exchange opinions on whether to accept Zhang Chao into the association!
It is not easy to join the Fuhai Writers Association. In addition to the basic conditions of "local household registration or work" and "supporting the rules and regulations of the Writers Association", the most important two conditions are:

“Must have published a certain number and quality of literary works in literary journals at or above the municipal level.”

"He has been engaged in literary editing, teaching, and organizational work for a long time, and has made outstanding achievements."

Whether it is "a certain quantity and quality" or "long-term, outstanding achievements", they are all items that have no quantitative standards and can be flexibly operated. They can be lowered to allow people to come in, or raised to prevent people from coming in.

The right to speak lies entirely with those who can sit in the Writers Association meeting room and hold regular meetings.

In the 90s, the local government was in financial difficulty. The Writers Association, which was supported by grants, was almost unable to make ends meet. In desperation, it even absorbed a few local bosses who were pretentious. The standard at that time was extremely low. One could join by publishing a small piece of tofu in a county-level publication.

These little pieces of tofu are basically ghostwritten, and they are only published after giving advice.

Zhang Chao has reached the highest threshold for joining the city-level writers' association in terms of both the number of his works and the quality of his publications. But his biggest problem is that he became famous too quickly, and apart from a composition competition, he has not had any interaction with the local literary world.

The literary world is probably the one where the circle culture is the most prevalent and the fortress is the most stubborn among all industries. After the decline of literature in the 1990s, it has become even more decadent.

To put it simply, "If you are told you can do it, then you can do it, even if you can't. If you are told you can't do it, then you can't do it, even if you can do it."

Traditional ideas hold that joining the Writers Association is the sign of entering the literary world.

For example, Wang Xiaobo, before his death, although he had published novels in "Huacheng", opened a column in a newspaper, published works, and won the best script award at a foreign film festival as a screenwriter, he still could not find which way the door to the so-called "literary world" opened.

So much so that after his death, the media still called him "a true master outside the literary world."

What is even more embarrassing is that even after he became famous, for nearly 20 years, except for a few writers such as Wang Meng, the entire "literary world" avoided talking about his works. Apart from researchers, it is almost difficult to find any writers of the same age or predecessors talking about him.

Therefore, the voices opposing Zhang Chao's joining the Writers Association were so loud that they even overwhelmed the voices supporting him. Of course, the opponents could not say "I don't care how famous Zhang Chao is", but they gave some high-sounding reasons:

“Current affairs and miscellaneous reviews are not literary enough!”

“Is a novel serialized on the Internet a novel?”

"Writing popular fiction is not good enough!"

"If it is about to be published, then it has not been published yet and it doesn't count!"

"Too flamboyant!"

……

The chairman of the Writers Association, Chang Tian, ​​looked coldly at the chattering veterans and junior soldiers of the Fu Hai literary world below, his disappointment evident in his words.

The reason why we invited Alai last time was to have one of the younger generation of the Writers Association be appreciated by the future bigwigs in the literary world and have a chance to break the current sluggish situation. But except for Zhang Chao, they were indifferent to everyone else and obviously didn't like any of them.

But Zhang Chao is not a member of the Writers Association. Seeing that everyone had said almost everything, Changtian tapped the rim of the cup with the lid, making a crisp sound. Everyone fell silent and looked at the chairman.

Chang Tian said, "Can anyone remember how long ago it was that a member of our Fuhai Writers Association published a work in a magazine of Huacheng's caliber?"

Everyone went from being quiet to being silent.

The rank of a literary publication is not determined solely by its administrative level or length of history, but is built up by generations of editors and authors using rock-solid works.

In the field of pure literature, "People's Literature" is unique because of its political status; then there are the four major leading ladies, "Contemporary", "October", "Harvest" and "Huacheng"; and then there are publications such as "Zhongshan" and "Yenching Literature".

The current chairman, Chang Tian, ​​has gained his status as the most influential person in Fuhai's literary world today by publishing his works in these top literary journals. However, since his golden period of creation has passed, Fuhai's literary world has fallen into silence.

As the chairman, he is still very responsible.

Changtian sighed and said, "Last time before Alai left, he specifically told me that Zhang Chao was a good talent and should not be left to wander around. Everyone has just expressed so many objections, why did they avoid mentioning the novel he recently published in Huacheng? Is it because Huacheng is too low-level, or is the novel not well-written?
If we can’t stand young people being good or talented, then we are intolerant. No matter how high the threshold of our Writers Association is, there must be a bottom line. Chairman Yan Ming of the Federation of Literary and Art Circles told me that we don’t want Zhang Chao, but they do. ”

After hearing these words, everyone lowered their heads in silence.

Changtian raised his hand and continued, "I think Zhang Chao is fully qualified to join our Fuhai Writers Association. Who is in favor? Who is against?"

After another short silence, the other directors finally raised their hands one after another. Without counting, it was clear that more than half of them had raised their hands.

Changtian then nodded with satisfaction.

At this time, a young director of the Fuhai Writers Association suddenly said timidly: "...It seems that according to the charter, to join the Writers Association, one must apply in person. Uh...Did Zhang Chao apply? Or, has he communicated with you?"

Changtian: “…Uh, not really…”

Changtian himself had even forgotten about this - in recent years, the Writers Association has always used a tacit understanding approach to recruit people, that is, new writers must first flirt with some members of the Writers Association to blend into the circle; when the time is right, they must sincerely express their desire to join the Writers Association; after coordination and confirmation among the members of the Writers Association, they can finally fill out the application form.

There has never been a writer who applied by simply filling out a form without using connections or making advance arrangements.

Immediately, an unconvinced director said sarcastically, "Hey, he didn't even say hello or visit the dock. So we begged him to join?"

The venue was immediately filled with a buzz. Everyone had gotten into the circle this way, so why should Zhang Chao be an exception?
Because the halo of the Writers Association is still there, all the writers who follow the traditional writing route are waiting to succumb to it. There is no such wild way as Zhang Chao, who knows no one and no one can talk to him.

So Changtian only thought about recruiting Zhang Chao and never thought about whether Zhang Chao was willing or not - of course Changtian thought that Zhang Chao was willing!

But the rules cannot be broken! However, at his age, Changtian is obviously not suitable to flirt with Zhang Chao anymore; and looking around the venue, all the people are either white-haired or bald, which is very frustrating.

So Changtian pointed at the young director who had just spoken and said, "Xiao Sun, you are the youngest among the directors. Go make friends with Zhang Chao and do a good job. Make sure he takes the initiative to apply to join the Writers Association!"

This is the last dignity of the Fuhai Writers Association.

(End of this chapter)