Japanese author wins Taipei Literature Award with Chinese novel
By News Desk in Taipei/The China Post | ANN – Tue, Mar 15, 2011 5:20 PM SGT
Taipei (The China Post/ANN) - For the first time in 13 years, the Taipei Literature Award was given to a non-native writer -- Junichi Kinoshita, the Japanese author of a Chinese-language novel.
The Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs presented the award to Kinoshita in a ceremony at the Red House in Ximending, Taipei. Kinoshita is a Japan native who has resided in Taiwan for the past 20 years, which allowed him to write his winning novel in Chinese.
The novel translated as "Dandelion Floss," takes readers through the struggles of five Japanese expatriates living in Taiwan. Through his writing, 50-year-old Kinoshita was able to cross language barriers and cultural differences to deliver a profound tale that resonated with local readers, becoming the first foreign winner of the Taipei Literature Award.
According to Kinoshita, the winning piece almost never came to pass; the writer, who had lived in Taiwan since 1980, had planned to return home to Japan with his wife in 2008. In the process of leaving, he found out about the literature award, which encouraged writers to "document city life and the people who live in the capital city."
"I have too much affection for Taipei, the place of my youth," Kinoshita said, adding that it was then and there that he decided to stay and write his novel.
After winning the grand prize, the author said he will continue to stay in the landscape of his stories and write in Chinese.
"My fate with Taipei is still ongoing, still growing," he added.
The Department of Cultural Affairs created the Taipei Literature Award to promote great literature and find creative talents among the many communities in Taipei City. This year, more than 1,611 writers from Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the U.S. submitted pieces in hopes of winning the prize.
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Tuan tahu apakah yang terbayang dalam fikiran ini apabila membaca berita begini?
Seluruh khalayak sastera antarabangsa berhimpun untuk merayakan anugerah novel Melayu terbaik yang ditulis oleh novelis pelbagai bangsa dari seluruh pelosok dunia. Ya, karyanya dalam bahasa Melayu. Novelisnya mungkin Pasternak yang tinggal di Ottowa atau Suriname.
Tuan rumah acara ini adalah Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka. Orang besar-besar, para panglima sastera kita juga hadir bersama. Masakan tidak itu adalah hasil kerja mereka bertahun-tahun mencari Melayu?!
Hasni tentu ketawa berdekah-dekah, lengkap dengan soalannya, “Abang dok harapkan puak-puak ini lagi...??!!”
Itulah yang akibatnya jika yang namanya orang itu rela diperalatkan.
