Literary Master 1983

Chapter 195 Akutagawa Ryunosuke

"Yu Qie! There is a chance, there must be a chance!" Luo Yihe replied. He explained to the others: "As far as I know, this has never happened before - Editor-in-Chief Zhang, Editor-in-Chief Wang, you two are very knowledgeable, have you ever seen such a thing?"

Zhang Shouren was beaming with joy: "I have been an editor for decades and have never heard of such a thing! It is said that Mr. Shu was once recommended for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Unfortunately, the award does not announce the nominations. However, just this alone is enough to give Mr. Shu's novels a new color! His family members always talk about this matter when they are interviewed..."

"It's a pity that Mr. Shu has passed away. But because of this, people always think that if he were still alive, he would have become the first Nobel Prize winner. You have to know that winning and not winning, being nominated and not being nominated are two completely different things."

Wang Shimin said: "I think there is hope for the nomination! Iwanami Bookstore is just like the status of Shanghai Translation in publishing houses! Whenever they want to recommend a book, I believe they have some confidence!" Wang Shimin was in high spirits and was even more excited than Yu Qie.

So, wouldn't it be possible to get a nomination?
Ryunosuke Akutagawa’s nomination…even just a nomination is something that no Chinese writer has ever had before!

Thinking of this, everyone suddenly became excited again! Even Yu Hua, who didn't know why, couldn't help but mutter: "Akutagawa Ryunosuke? I have a chance to win the Akutagawa Ryunosuke Award..."

What exactly is the Akutagawa Ryunosuke Prize?

The name is strange and magical.

A feeling of pride filled Yu Hua's heart. It turned out that his imitations over the past month or so were not just random writing, but rather he was trying to figure out the work of a talented writer!
Even foreign countries are recognizing his works!

Yu Hua's girlfriend's phone call threatening to break up had been hanging in his mind. He was about to compromise, but he was suddenly moved by this moment. Dentist Yu Hua has a sensitive side. He is mature and precocious. He often ponders over a matter repeatedly to understand the philosophy of life.

When he was a child, Yu Hua swam on the coast. His hometown did not have a beautiful coastline. It was an ordinary coastal county. In Yu Hua's life story, he had never seen the "clear blue sea", but only the gray-black sea mixed with mud and sand, which was neither beautiful nor could it satisfy Yu Hua's dream.

So, Yu Hua felt that as long as he kept swimming, he would be able to swim until the water turned blue and see the beautiful sea like the one in the book.

However, the young boy almost drowned and it took him a lot of effort to return to the shore. He was always afraid of this incident because he knew that the sea was too big and he could not see that kind of beauty.

However, today, the clear blue ocean was surging in front of him. Yu Qi not only swam in it, but even stepped on a surfboard and played to his heart's content.

All the memories of pretending to be Yu Qie and writing replies to readers came back to Yu Hua's mind. Every time he wrote the signature "Yu Qie", literature became more important in his heart. He suddenly felt that this was the life he wanted to live.

Ocean, oh ocean, once again I have to make a choice!

People cheered not only because October had made achievements, but also because a Chinese writer had received international recognition. This means that Chinese literature has not gone far, but has gradually caught up with the world trend - at least some people have done so.

Translator Zhao Deming explains:
"The Akutagawa Ryunosuke Prize is actually a literary award for writers from all over the world. It is mainly based on Japanese short stories or novellas published in Japan and written in Japanese. There is no requirement for nationality."

“And, the recipients of this award are mainly new writers.”

"Of course there are many great Chinese writers whose achievements far exceed this award, but for various reasons, they can hardly meet its prerequisites! Although there is no data to prove it, I think if Yu Qie gets nominated, he will be unprecedented."

How developed was Japan in the 1980s? It was in the first tier of Western countries, the second largest economy after the United States, and the main source of loans and funds for the mainland.

Even if it is just a nomination, its influence is greater than the Thai King's Medal.

The news spread quickly, and many people knew that Yu Qie was actually able to write Japanese novels. The book "Happy Hunting" had never been published in mainland China, but was directly sent to Japan. It unexpectedly met the nomination requirements for the "Akutagawa Ryunosuke Award". In less than a week, Yu Qie had been asked about this rumor by many people!

He was very annoyed and said "nothing" every time. The list of nominees for the Akutagawa Ryunosuke Award has not yet been announced, and even if the editorial department analyzes various possibilities, he cannot celebrate in advance.

Yes!

Every time, people who heard his answer would think:

how can that be possible?
How did a Chinese writer get nominated for a Japanese literary award?
Impossible, absolutely impossible.

The circle in Beijing was too small, and the news spread too quickly. Even Zhang Li came back from the crew and asked Yu Qie: "They said that you published a novel in Japan and won a Japanese literary award?"

"They are talking nonsense! It's just a nomination at most. Japanese booksellers want to sell books, so they use me to hype themselves up." Yu Qi shook his head.

"What's the hype? What is hype?"

This is another term that people in the 1980s did not understand. Yu Qie briefly explained his idea: In Japan, any work nominated for the Akutagawa Ryunosuke Award will often see a period of explosive sales, with the sales reaching hundreds of thousands of copies, not to mention winning the award, which can reach millions of copies.

Considering that Japan has a smaller population and more entertainment options - this sales volume, converted to mainland China, is equivalent to selling 20 million novels a year!
In fact, no one in mainland China can sell novels to this extent, let alone new writers! This shows that Japanese booksellers are very mature in their methods of developing the market.

The books published by Iwanami Shoko once created a "Iwanami phenomenon", that is, young Japanese men and women held the expensive "world classics" published by Iwanami Shoko, pretending to be literary youths, but in fact they had never opened them to read.

Zhang Li was very disappointed and asked, "Is there really no chance at all?"

"Okay, there is such a possibility, but don't tell anyone because it has not been decided yet."

She immediately became excited: "Really? Oh my God, is it possible?"

"I don't know. There has never been such a precedent..."

That is very difficult!

Zhang Li had only a vague understanding of the selection criteria for foreign awards, so she believed whatever Yu Qie said. She was worried that Yu Qie would be disappointed because he didn't get a nomination, and she was also afraid that others would laugh at Yu Qi, so she kept her mouth shut.

Many people in the crew asked her whether Yu Qie's story was true, and she followed Yu Qie's example and answered "I don't know."

"——Is the Yu Qie incident true?"

Chen Xiaoxu also came to ask her.

(End of this chapter)