China Australia Literary Forum 2013

The second China Australia Literary Forum took place in Beijing on 2-3 April 2013, at the National Museum for Modern Chinese Literature of Beijing.

It followed on from the success of the inaugural China Australia Literary Forum event held in Sydney, Australia in 2011. The program was co-hosted by the Chinese Writers Association, The JM Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice [Adelaide University], the Writing and Society Research Centre [University of Western Sydney], and the Australian Embassy in Beijing.

This high profile literary exchange featured two Nobel Laureates - J.M. Coetzee [2003] and Mo Yan [2012], who formed part of a delegation of eight Australian and eight Chinese authors. They joined other attending academics, editors, publishers and members of the literary community. The event fostered discussions about the role of writing in the contemporary world, the critical issues for writing in each society, and the prospects of future literary and publishing interaction between China and Australia. This event was run in both English and Mandarin, with simultaneous translation.

Australian delegates were J.M. Coetzee, Brian Castro, Nicholas Jose, Ivor Indyk, Gail Jones, David Walker, Anthony Uhlmann, Jing Han, Ben Etherington.

Chinese delegates were Mo Yan, Tie Ning, Li Yao, Liu Zhenyun, Xu Xiaobin, Ye Xin, Liu Zhenyun, Li Er, Li Jingze.

Download the full program

The program also included a one-day Literature and Criticism roundtable seminar at the Australian Embassy in Beijing, which brought together academics from University of Adelaide, University of Western Sydney, and international colleagues from The University of East Anglia, the British Centre for Literary Translation, and Chinese participants from the Universities in China, as well as publishing houses and journals.

Delegates participating in this seminar included Professor Wang Guaglin [Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade], Dr Lynda Ng [Oxford University], Ou Ning [Chutzpah! Magazine], Professor Anthony Ulman [University of Western Sydney], Professor Yan Jinglan [East China University of Science Technology], Professor Jon Cook [University of East Anglia], Professor Li Youwen [Beijing Foreign Studies University], Dr Ben Etherington [University of Western Sydney], Professor Lu Jiande [Institute of Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences]

Video

Video 1: J.M. Coetzee talks about idealism and the Nobel Prize.
Video 2: Mo Yan on the challenges of being associated with the Nobel prize.

Gallery