Six foreign novels received the 2002 21st Century Best Foreign Novels Award issued by the People's Literature Publishing House and the China Foreign Literature Studies Society last week in Beijing.
The Chinese translations of the six novels have been published by the People's Literature Publishing House.
That Old Ace in the Hole is the latest novel by US Pulitzer Prize winner Annie Proulx. It follows a swindler's attempt to find a tract of land in the Texas Oklahoma Panhandle for his employer to turn into an industrial hog farm.
"Her narrative line revolves around regional history, colorful tales and grotesque characters. The author succeeds admirably in creating a new literary territory. Amid humor and jokes, the novel poses questions about environmental abuse, morals, lifestyle and the meaning of existence," said the screening committee, which also offered high praise for the other five works.
Since it was initiated in 2001, the event has introduced a dozen outstanding international writers to Chinese readers.
"For a long period of time, it was rare for Chinese readers to read the latest foreign novels shortly after they were published due to the slow process of purchasing copyrights and translation. By setting up such an award, we hope to solve that problem," said Nie Zhenning with the People's Literature Publishing House.
Works under selection were chosen from several novels that were first published over the past year.
But last year, the People's Daily accused the selection of "lacking universality."
"Most members of the screening committee are researchers on European and American literature. That has made the committee unable to give close attention to writers outside Europe and the United States and works written in lessan common languages," the paper said.
The same problem continues this year. Of the six winners, four are from Europe, one from the United States, and one from Latin America. The literature from the rest part of the world, for example populous Asia, has been completely neglected.
(China Daily December 18, 2003)
