China Daily features an article by Mei Jia on the fiction writing scene in China. It starts with a quote that shows professors are pretty much alike all over the world: "Next year's literary trend will be a lack of trends," says Chen Xiaoming, a critic and literature professor at Peking University (Beida).
Another professor, Zhang Yiwu, says, “Three genre territories are taking shape on China's literary map - traditional, online and teen."
The article notes, “Chen also expects online literature, which already has a faithful readership, to grow in 2010. Powerful companies are expanding the genre by hosting writing contests, enabling new talent to flourish, he says. [Hmm, can we import this trend, please? Any powerful companies who are interested can contact me directly...]
And it’s kind of comforting to see that authors there have some of the same concerns that we do: “Beijing-based writer, critic and author of The Kitchen, Xu Kun voices concern about fiction's move online. ‘It worries me that mouse clicks seem to herald the death knell of physical books,’ she says.”
(My book, "Focus: the power of targeted thinking," will be published in China later this year, but you can get the English version now at Amazon or your other favorite online or offline bookseller. For more information, see www.focusquick.com)
