Writer 1979: Writing for the People

Chapter 78 Joining the Provincial Writers Association? (Please Subscribe)

The excellence of "The Mountain, the Man, and the Dog" clearly exceeded many people's expectations, so they all privately guaranteed that this article would definitely be selected for this year's National Excellent Short Story Award.

Neither the quality of the article nor its popularity suggests it could be removed from the list.

Hmm—this sentence seems a bit familiar!

Suddenly, everyone remembered that "Wheat Harvester" was also a work by Comrade Xu Lu!

Although compared to the current "Postmen in the Mountains" and "The Dogs and the People," "The Wheat Harvester" doesn't seem to have as much influence.

But compared to other short stories in the literary world this year, it is a rare masterpiece!

Is Comrade Xu Lu going to take two spots for this year's National Excellent Short Story Award?

While there's little controversy surrounding the award given the quality of both articles, and the judging rules for the National Excellent Short Story Award don't seem to include any such restrictions—

But thinking about it, it still feels a bit unreal.

After all, that's a national award for outstanding short stories.

Winning an award there is equivalent to going from a local author to a nationally renowned author.

In addition, there are various benefits, resource allocation, and official endorsement —

In short, there are many benefits.

Therefore, every year everyone is racking their brains to try and gain a foothold in it.

But now, it's actually possible for someone to have two works win awards in the same competition simultaneously—

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Of course, everyone would find it unbelievable.

Because achieving this isn't just a matter of hard work; it requires divine intervention.

You have to guarantee both quality and output. Look at Jiang Zilong, who published "The Appointment of Factory Director Qiao" in July. So far, he has published two more works, "Late Years" and "Blood Flows to the Heart".

The second article was also published in People's Literature.

However, neither of these articles attracted much attention, let alone made people feel that they had a chance to compete for this year's National Excellent Short Story Award.

Look at Chen Zhongshi again. After the People's Daily reprinted his article "Trust" in June, he hasn't published a second article since.

They are all considered strong contenders for this year's National Excellent Short Story Award.

Therefore, the possibility of two works by the same author winning awards in the same competition is only theoretical.

Xu Lu, this "prodigy," proved to everyone that anything is possible!

In late November, Yan Gang, a senior figure in the commentary field and a leading figure in the mainstream camp, published a commentary on "Postmen in the Mountains" in the newspaper.

He is a senior literary critic, editor, and essayist in contemporary China, and one of the most important promoters of new works and patrons of emerging talents in the new era of literature. While he may not be a leading figure, he certainly possesses a strong voice in the industry and influence over his works.

"Xu Lu's novels are green."

The mountains are green, the water is green, the bamboo forest is green, and even the wind carries the fresh scent of the mountain village. He writes about the lives of ordinary people, the conscience of honest people, and the silent perseverance on the mountain road. They are quiet and unassuming, yet like the grass and trees covering the mountains, they grow naturally, giving people a sense of security and hope for the future.

This is a green dream.

"Young writers who write about rural life often end up either writing about bitterness and resentment or writing about pastoral scenes that are detached from reality. Xu Lu is different. He writes about the lives of the mountain people and the land he knows well. His writing is realistic, genuine, and heartwarming."

Literature in the new era needs works that are rooted in the soil and that express the true feelings of ordinary people.

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We look forward to this young writer continuing along this green mountain path, creating more excellent works that capture the freshness of the mountains and the warmth of humanity. — Yan Gang, "Green Dream"

Because of its accurate assessment and writing style that combines rational thinking with literary warmth, this commentary quickly attracted public attention and recognition after its publication.

Besides Yan Gang, Qin Zhaoyang, the editor-in-chief of Contemporary, who previously wrote a review article for Maike, and other people in the literary world have also recently published their own reviews on this article, "That Mountain, That Man, That Dog".

Of course, all the reviews were positive!

And the article's popularity continues to rise!

The popularity of "Postmen in the Mountains" clearly exceeded the expectations of the editors at Yanhe.

They previously thought that "Wheat Harvester" was Xu Lu's masterpiece for a short period of time.

Who would have thought that only three months later, he would write such a stunning masterpiece.

Actually, everyone knows that he wrote this article, because he had been asking around about people from Hunan Province some time ago.

No one expected that he would not only finish the article so quickly, but also write it so well.

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After all, that's Hunan Province, not Shaanxi Province.

Shaanxi Province is his hometown, so it's understandable that he was able to finish writing "Wheat Harvester".

He had never even been to Hunan Province. He was able to write about the local customs and culture of the mountainous areas of Hunan so vividly and realistically simply by researching materials and communicating with the locals.

They really wanted to know, was there any article that Xu Lu couldn't write?

As for Xu Lu herself, she remained as calm as ever. She spent her time reviewing manuscripts at work and writing after get off work, leading a very fulfilling life.

"The Legend of the Heavenly Book" was indeed difficult to write, but after gradually becoming familiar with the writing style, the overall progress was quickly accelerated.

On November 25th, after half a month of hard work, the manuscript of "The Legend of the Heavenly Book," which is about 11 words long, was finally completed.

Just after Xu Lugang sent the letter to Jitong Literature, Wang Wenshi, the vice chairman of the Writers Association who had just returned from Beijing, suddenly called him into his office.

"This literary and art congress has had a profound impact on the development of the literary and art circles."

Having clearly defined the direction of "literature and art serving the people and serving socialism," many of our comrades involved in literature and art finally felt a little more confident.

On the last night of this literary and art congress, a tea party was organized, which Comrade Hu also attended.

It's a pity that Shaanxi Province has limited spots, and the list was finalized early on. Otherwise, if conditions allowed, you should have gone along to join the fun and broaden your experience.

After calling Xu Lu to his office, Wang Wenshi first shared some of his experiences from the recent literary and art congress with him.

Clearly, this trip to the capital left a very deep impression on him.

In fact, Wang Wenshi has been quite busy lately. He has been continuing his research on literary theory around the "Yam School". Last time, he only put forward the concept in general terms. There are still many details that can be discussed further.

I recently went to Beijing to attend the National Congress of Literary and Art Workers, and I only had a little free time these past two days.

The reason he specifically called Xu Lu over today wasn't just to chat and reminisce, but because he had something important to tell him.

"Xiao Xu, given our relationship, I'll be frank with some things—"

After warming up the atmosphere a bit, Wang Wenshi prepared to introduce the main topic.

"Please speak."

"It's not a big deal, really. I just wanted to ask if you have any plans to join the Shaanxi Provincial Writers Association?"