Chinese literature prize to be awarded amid controversy
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The fifth Lu Xun Literature Prize, one of China's most prestigious honors, will be awarded to Che Yangao Tuesday despite netizens' charge his work is overly simplistic and unworthy of the prize.
Che, secretary of the discipline inspection committee in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, won the award for his collection of poems "Yearning for Warmth."
Many netizens have criticized Che for the colloquial style of two of his earlier poems on Chinese film stars Xu Fan and Liu Yifei.
Although the two poems were not in "Yearning for Warmth," some still think Che's poems are ridiculous. They say his writing style is not refined enough to win such an important literary award.
China Writers Association (CWA) Chairwoman Tie Ning, one of the organizers of the prize, said in an article on the CWA website last week that both positive and negative reactions to the awarding of literature prizes is common.
"It is not necessary for us to avoid or fear the criticism," Tie said.
Still, she admitted that the mechanisms for the awarding of some literature prizes, including the Lu Xun Literature Prize, need to be improved.
"Criticism may bring positive effects, since it can give us the impetus to make fairer and more credible award decisions in the future," Tie said.
The award ceremony will be held in east China's Shaoxing City, the hometown of Lu Xun (1881-1936), one of China's most well-known contemporary authors and essayist.
Named after Lu, the prize was first awarded in 1986.
Writers of outstanding short- to middle-length novels, poems, prose, essays, reportage, literary reviews and theoretical works will receive the award, which is bestowed every two years.
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