What kind of writer did Professor Mo Yan, Yu Hua, and Su Tong cultivate at Beijing Normal University
"When the title page of this book is opened, it feels like talent is rushing towards us, the breath of youth is rushing towards us, and the breath of life is rushing towards us. Three of them are rushing towards us, how can they not be a good book?" Mo Yan, director of the International Writing Center of Beijing Normal University, said at the graduate work seminar in the field of literary creation at Beijing Normal University. "Our authors, classmates, your talents, and your labor are also our glory. When we can't write, seeing classmates like our own children writing and achieving results, the deep joy in our hearts is indeed difficult to express in words, even no less than before our own works were published back then." Excited. "
Wang Lijun, Dean of the School of Literature at Beijing Normal University, recalled that from 1988 to 1991, the School of Literature at Beijing Normal University jointly recruited master's students majoring in literary creation with the Lu Xun School of Literature. Mo Yan and Yu Hua were classmates in this class. At the end of 2012, the International Writing Center of Beijing Normal University was established, with Mo Yan serving as the center's chairman. In 2014, the School of Literature at Beijing Normal University and the International Writing Center jointly established the Literary Creation and Criticism major, pioneering the dual mentor system jointly trained by academic and writer mentors in China, which organically integrates the cultivation of theoretical literacy and creative practice training. In 2020, the School of Literature began admitting doctoral students in the field of literary creation, with Mo Yan and Yu Hua serving as joint doctoral supervisors. Currently, 12 doctoral students have been admitted. "Yun: Whenever Someone Wakes Up" collects 12 short and medium stories written by 12 young authors trained by the Literary Creation and Criticism program at Beijing Normal University since 2014. The writing mentors of these students write reviews for their works.
The "Yun" series of literary works is a publishing brand jointly created by the School of Literature of Beijing Normal University, the International Writing Center of Beijing Normal University, and Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, aimed at young writers and readers. It is published once a year and will focus on showcasing the creative achievements of students in the field of literary creation at Beijing Normal University. Li Weichang, Vice President of Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, mentioned that from "Yun: Whenever Someone Wakes Up", it can be seen that these young novelists are in a moment of "about to fly but not yet", which is the main factor that publishers consider when choosing young writers.
"Most of the authors in this work collection started writing their first novel and publishing it after studying in the field of cultural and creative studies at Beijing Normal University." Zhang Li, editor in chief of "Yun: Whenever Someone Wakes Up" and deputy dean of the School of Literature at Beijing Normal University, introduced that the works included in this work collection are not all representative works of these young people, but they contain the heart of the writer's mentor and the growth footprints and possibilities of a generation of young writers. Zhang Li mentioned that famous poets Xichuan and Ouyang Jianghe offered poetry appreciation courses for undergraduate students at Beijing Normal University, which were deeply loved by students. Writers and professors such as Mo Yan, Yu Hua, and Su Tong participated in the "Famous Teacher Writing Guidance Workshop" and held revision meetings for young writers in the field of literary creation.
"Beijing Normal University holds a novel discussion meeting, also known as a revision meeting, which is a very meaningful form and is something that our writing center teachers are good at." Mo Yan said, "Good novels are indeed revised. The process of revision meetings is actually two-way. During the process of reading and discussing students' manuscripts, we are also comparing our own manuscripts, reading their novels, and recalling our own novels. We will also feel some things that we cannot write, or some life characteristics that we are unfamiliar with and do not personally experience in the current society, which is also very helpful to us. Teaching and learning complement each other and progress together. This is an objective approach." Description. "
"Our discovery of students is still based on our own way, not on the completion of a work, but on the unfinished ideas or details of a work, and gradually guide students to revise and improve it." Yu Hua said, "Cultivating students ultimately depends on whether they can truly achieve success in literature in the future. I don't measure this author by publishing works, this is a reflection of several years of work." He admitted, "I used to not care much about writers born in the 1990s, but with my own students, I also started reading works by writers born in the 1990s outside of school. To be honest, we really don't want to be frogs in the well. There are good writers born in the 1990s in society."
"When I went to Beijing Normal University, I used to think I was here to be a vase, but Beijing Normal University didn't want a vase. It really needed a gardener," Su Tong joked. "My interaction with students is really democratic, and I am always present whenever you need it. I have almost no requirements for students, but first of all, you should never let the teacher see '18 year old, inexperienced and confused me' or 'how I am on campus'. Don't use such sentences. It's easy for middle school students to use their own materials when writing, and learning to write means learning to fabricate. It's also a bit sad to see some of the names in this book. Some people go to film and television companies to work as screenwriters, while others become middle school teachers. I think this is also good. Just because you major in Beijing Normal University doesn't mean you must be a diligent writer, living on campus." Leaving such a work in the middle is a very good commemoration
Ouyang Jianghe said, "When I define the relationship with students, I demand that I cannot cultivate them all into my disciples. From the perspective of literary education, novel writing contains elements of craftsmanship and technology, and poetry writing is difficult to teach specifically. I also encourage students to transform their talent for writing poetry into their talent for creating novels, hoping that they can transform towards the narrative literature while retaining the poet's way of viewing the world."
Xichuan also stated that poetic thinking and novel thinking are very different, with many types of writing, and each student's talent type is also different. A good teacher can see which type of talent a student has.
Professor Li Er from Peking University is also a resident writer supervisor at the Zhuhai Campus of Beijing Normal University. "The works included in the book have made significant progress compared to my initial draft when I first participated in the revision meeting, which is more complete and mature." He also pointed out that these novels are still within the new literary tradition. How to engage in dialogue with various cultures of the current era in a broader context, and then face our historical traditions again, is the next step that youth writing needs to consider.
"Students majoring in writing at Beijing Normal University have excellent resources among their peers, and their works have been recognized by their mentors, publications, and critics. However, as novelists, there is still one last hurdle - readers. To be honest, I have seen many young novelists getting stuck in the reader's hurdle. Contemporary literature is thriving, but contemporary literature also has inherent crises. How to bridge the reader's gap is a difficult point in today's literary creation education," said Huang Ping, a professor at East China Normal University. While creative writing in Chinese universities is flourishing, there is also a difficult point to answer - many excellent young writers in the literary world are not trained by creative writing majors, and they happen to be. It bypasses the "system" and writes directly to readers. "The works of these successful peers serve as a reminder that their grasp of the emotions of the times is to some extent more reliable. We look forward to the day when the works of young people trained in writing will not only compete with their peers in other universities, but also with outstanding young creators in various fields such as film, TV dramas, games, music, etc."
