Six foreign novels received the 21st Century Best Foreign Novels Annual Award, which was announced in Beijing on Tuesday.
The project was jointly initiated by the People's Literature Press and the China Foreign Literature Studies Society. The award is for excellent contemporary foreign literature works, and to accelerate the publication of foreign literature in China.
It was the first time that Chinese publishing circles to give awards for foreign literature works.
The six winning novels were Short Phrases, My Dear written by French author Pierrette Fleutiaux, Herr Lehmann by German author Sven Regener, The Skin of the Sky by Mexican author Elena Poniatowska, I Intended to Flee by Russian author Iouri Poliakov, Hotel World by British author Ali Smith, and Cane River by American author Lalita Trademy.
It was a surprise for Pierrette Fleutiaux to receive the award, for she considered the story in her novel to be serious and not entertaining.
The novel was about a mother becoming sick and dying at an elderly people's home. The story showed intricate and delicate emotion when she was with her daughter.
The story covered the problems many have or will encounter in their lives. Therefore, the unique personal experience of the protagonist displayed the general tragedy of mankind, which was exactly the reason for the novel's success.
"I am proud of the prize. It shows that the problems I put forward in my novel are also what the contemporary Chinese families are experiencing. It can be seen everywhere in cities that the adult sons and daughters are frustrated in dealing with their parents," said the author after she received her award of a certificate and a porcelain cup.
Works under selection were chosen from several novels that were first published in 2001. Besides languages or the countries mentioned above, the selection committee keeps a close watch on novels in other countries as well in the future.
(China Daily December 20, 2002)
