BEIJING, April 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — On April 10, 2023, the 6^th Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize was officially launched. The Prize is an impartial, authoritative and professional award in the field of Chinese literature that aims to discover and encourage outstanding young writers under the age of 45. The co-sponsors, Blancpain and the Imaginist, continue on their quest to convey a simple but meaningful message to the public: “Reading makes time more valuable”.

This year’s jury lineup includes Yiyun Li, Ma Boyong, Tang Nuo, Pema Tseden, and Ye Zhaoyan. For the first time, Tang Nuo, who served on the jury in the first edition of the Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize, has been invited back to join the judging panel. As every year, the event has brought together a new team of judges, and by doing so, maintains the diversity and high caliber of the judging team by bringing together many important and iconic figures in the field of Chinese literature and culture.

From now until May 15, the organizing committee will accept submissions from publishers, publishing companies or authors themselves. The final winners will be announced at the award ceremony in October. The young writer who wins first prize will receive a bonus of 300,000 yuan. The finalists will receive the Young Friend of Blancpain Award, a certificate for the finalist’s work and a bonus of 20,000 yuan to support their creative efforts and encourage young writers to continue their work.

Theme of the 2023 Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize: Stand up for Complexity

The year 2023 marks a fresh start, much like a new spring. The year ushers in a new technological revolution as if the hash has been broken and time has begun to move forward again.

Nevertheless nothing can be truly new and pristine. The future is built upon all the experiences, memories, sorrows and regrets of the past, “like black smoke rising from an oil fire”. In the last decade, people have been talking about “the future”, “open” “possibilities”, “freedom, courage and responsibility”, and “history, memory and forgetting” with similar intentions.

In today’s world, which is increasingly fragmented but, at the same time, also more homogeneous: Value markets have become even more diverse, yet there is no other choice as there will always be better options; people are more aware of their ‘self’ than ever before, however, they have emerged with undifferentiated emotions and as a desire feedback machine, repeatedly washed away by the waves of the digital world; and as the flow of graphic information comes to us, it is the polluted language, the fictional life, and the carefully fabricated stories. Conversely, what we want to propose is:

We must stand up for the real world, telling the truth about people, life, feelings and stories.

We must stand up for complexity, including the vision and depth of field that a free and capable person should have, the basic realities that are simple but must be assembled in a way that lends meaning to life, and the various voices and speechless moments beyond our respective cocoons. As ‘complexity’ is the foundation of everything ‘new’, the beginning of everything ‘the future’, the inherent foe of every falsehood and simplification.

“If you doubt the reality of the world you live in,” Lem said, “you must act on your own.” Let’s be champions of literature, starting with a commitment to complex constructs and authentic storylines.

Young friends, welcome to the real world where we will meet.

Jury of the 2023 Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize

(in alphabetical order)

Yiyun Li, writer and professor of the School of Creative Writing at Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts. She is the author of Must I Go, The Book of Goose and Tolstoy Together.

Ma Boyong, writer. He is the author of Da Yi, The Litchi Road, Two Capitals, Fifteen Days, The Great Ming Under the Microscope, The Longest Day in Chang’an, Antiques and Intrigue, and The Wind Blows from Longxi.

Tang Nuo, literary critic, writer, and member of the jury of the first Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize. He is the author of Time of Readers, At the End, The Story of Chinese Characters, and The Story of Reading.

Pema Tseden, Tibetan filmmaker, screenwriter and novelist. His films include The Silent Holy Stones, Tharlo, and Balloon. He is the author of several novels in both Tibetan and Chinese, including Wujin’s Teeth and Enticement.

Ye Zhaoyan, writer. His major works include Nanjing 1937: A Love Story, Nanjing Flower Demon, How Stubborn Our Hearts, Other People’s Love, Evening Moor on the Qinhuai, Tale of the Date Tree, and the historical essay Nanjing: The Story of a Chinese City.

Rules of entry for the 2023 Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize

Qualified applicants for the Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize are authors under the age of 45 who have published works in Simplified Chinese. Finalists will each receive cash prizes with the grand winner granted the sum of 300,000 yuan (approx. US$43,675) for the specific purpose of giving the recipient the time and space to focus on his or her writing. Entries can be novels of all themes, including pure literature, crime novels, detective stories and science fiction. Entries can be submitted by an author, a publisher or any kind of publishing organization. Publishers/publishing organizations can submit up to two works, one for each of two authors that they represent, while the author can submit one of his or her own works.

Entries must be works published between May 1, 2022 and April 30, 2023. The deadline for submission is May 15. On August 1, the review committee will release a shortlist of entries, consisting of two to three nominations from each member of the committee. On September 15, the committee will vote in such a way as to determine a final list of 5 candidates. The final winner (one) will be announced at the award ceremony to be held in middle or late October.

To learn more about the selection method and updates on the prize, please visit the official website at http://www.ilixiangguo.com/literary.html or follow the Chinese-language hashtag # TheBlancpain-ImaginistLiteraryPrize# on Sina Weibo.

About the Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize

The Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize, co-founded by Swiss luxury watch brand Blancpain and China’s most influential cultural brand Imaginist, was created to uncover new and promising literary stars, support talented young authors and encourage the creation of Chinese-language novels.

Engagement of the members of the latest generation just entering adulthood is always a key indicator that determines the future of the world of literature. In the field of literary creation, talented young authors are always seeking an opportunity, while publishing platforms are looking for potential authors, and, at the same time, seek to attract more attention and garner more engagement. Many contemporary classical authors were discovered and recognized in their youth, as literary awards specifically designated for up and coming authors were available to them. For example, Naipaul, Coetzee and new Nobel Prize in Literature winner Kazuo Ishiguro all won the Man Booker Prize in their youth, and went on to earn the Nobel Prize in Literature at a later stage in their writing careers. Renowned Japanese authors, among them, Shusaku Endo, Kenzaburo Oe and Ryu Murakami, were each recipients of the Akutagawa Prize in their youth. In today’s world, literary creation is a lonely and long road for young authors. The literary prize is designed to create a future that gives authors the space to focus on the creation of their works just as calligraphers are given the space and time to practice their craft.

Imaginist, the most influential publisher in China, has been dedicated to discovering the best authors who write in Chinese, offering an opportunity for thoughtful words to be published, while imagining another possibility for books. Works by Mu Xin, Kenneth Pai Hsien-yung, among others, have become even more valuable with the passage of time, nourishing the emotional life for generations of readers. Imaginist has, for a long time, been focused on publishing both the literary classics alongside the works of some of the most dynamic and thoughtful young authors who care about the human condition through the diverse collection of works that they have created with their open-minded insights.

Founded in 1735, Blancpain, the fine watchmaking brand from Switzerland, can pride itself in a long history going back 288 years. This creator of classic timepieces understands that the keepers of time that it creates are devices that go well beyond the material and physical, and that they speak to the faith, the feeling for aesthetics and the humanity that resides in each and every one of us. When one talks about the act of creation, it means the perseverance that must be maintained over an extended period of time, while bringing together the inspiration, skills, devotion and patience to create the structure, details and theme for each watch, which often calls for endless iterations of design while rethinking new ones to deliver true excellence in quality. Such an approach is very much in line with the essence that led to the creation of our literary classics. Literature is the extension of time. Blancpain, hand-in-hand with Imaginist, represent the literature penned by members of today’s youngest generation who love literary creation and remain committed to making their contribution.