Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) hosted an international workshop on contemporary Chinese literature today, featuring Mr Gao Xingjian, Nobel Laureate in Literature 2000.
At the international workshop, jointly organized by School of Humanities and Social Science and Division of Humanities of HKUST, a number of renowned scholars shared with Mr Gao their insights on his literary works. The workshop, chaired by Prof Liu Jianmei, Associate Professor of Humanities at HKUST, is among the key features of the Chinese Creative Writing Program organized by IAS. The workshop was followed by the screening of Rock Musical Of Mountains and Seas,one of the most spirited and fun-filled plays written by Mr Gao. Next Monday (27 October), Mr Gao will also give his first talk in Hong Kong, entitled “What Kind of Literature Do We Want?”, at HKUST and have a dialogue with Prof Liu Zaifu, Senior Visiting Fellow of IAS.
IAS invites leading contemporary Chinese writers to join the Chinese Creative Writing Program each year, ushering the audience into the colorful world of contemporary Chinese literature. Chaired by Prof Liu Zaifu, the world-renowned literary critic and writer, the program explores the major issues and prospects of creative Chinese writing in a global age and seeks to build HKUST as a major platform of such discourses in the higher education sector locally, nationally and internationally. It will also greatly enrich the academic and intellectual community of IAS by creating more exchanges and interactions among top creative writers from China and beyond.
Apart from Mr Gao, eminent contemporary Chinese writers including Ms Chi Zijian, Mr Yan Lianke and Dr Xue Yiwei have also been invited by IAS to give talks on contemporary Chinese literature this autumn.
Mr Gao Xingjian is one of the most extraordinary talents of the modern era. Amongst his great works are his novels Soul Mountain and One Man’s Bible, and also some twenty plays that include Wild Man, City of the Dead, Of Mountains and Seas and Snow in August. Through Mr Gao’s novels and plays, originally written in Chinese and translated into other languages, readers are able to sense the nobility of mind and the sincerity of the author, and to appreciate the unique method of narration of his works, as well as the poetry, rich visual, auditory and tactile sensations.
Mr Gao’s writings contain a variety of literary innovations, and academics and students like to study and engage in research on his works, and to stage his plays. Mr Gao also has outstanding achievements as a painter, a director, a filmmaker, a critic and a poet. His multi-faceted talent provides encouragement for those who still believe that truth and beauty constitute the only objective of the creative arts.
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