First WCSFA Congress, 2^nd XINGYUN Awards

At the first congress of the World Chinese Science Fiction Association, association president Wu Yan outlined the state of the WCSFA: membership is over ninety and includes members from all regions across mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, as well as from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and other countries. On the evening of November 12, an awards ceremony was held in the Sichuan Science and Technology Museumto present the 2^nd XINGYUN Awards. In attendance were 150 authors, editors, publishers, critics, and filmmakers fromChina and across the world. The top prizes, selected by more than 10,000 total votes, were awarded to stories, multimedia presentations, and individuals. At the ceremony, the WCSFA signed strategic partnership agreements with three publishers as part of a push for science fiction.

 

Winners of the 2^nd XINGYUN Awards

 Best Novel

Three Body III: Dead End by Liu Cixin

Best Novella

Never to Meet by He Xi

Best Short Story

“Rebirth Bricks” by Han Song

Mobile Phone Story, Reader’s Choice

[No top prize awarded]

Best Book

Star Tide: An Anthology of New and Next-Generation Chinese SF edited by Dong Renwei, Chongqing Publishing House

Best Magazine

Science Fiction World

Best Author

Liu Cixin and Wang Jinkang (tie)

Best Editor

Yang Feng

Best Promotion

Wu Yan

 

Cloud Forum

On November 12, SF fans, publishers, and animators, as well as SF authors and scholars from mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japangathered at the Sichuan Science and TechnologyMuseumto discuss the issues concerning science fiction and the future. Speaking at the forum were Beijing Normal University professor Wu Yan, Science Fiction World editor Yao Haijun, mainland SF authors Han Song, Wang Jinkang, Liu Cixin, Huang Hai of Taiwan, Hong Kong Science Fiction Club chairman and science writer Eddie Lee Wai Choi, Tianjin University Technology professor Shu Wei, science writer and Science Week founder Chang Chih-Chieh of Taiwan, BNU PhD student Ren Dongmei, Japanese SF and fantasy writer Tachihara Touya, BNU master’s student Jia Bin, and Zhejiang SF scholar Jiang Zhenyu.

 

Han Song Invited to Chinese Literature Week in Norway

On November 14, Han Song cut short his schedule at the XINGYUN Awards to head off toNorwayto take part in Chinese Literature Week. Other Chinese writers in attendance included Hong Ying, Mian Mian, Xu Zechen, Cheng Yongxin, and Wang Hui etc. Han Song summed up his experiences in a blog post, “An SF Ambassador inNorthern Europe,” and reported that the Norwegians were quite curious about Chinese SF. InNorway, like inChina, SF is not a part of the literary mainstream.

 

The Popularization of Science Fiction

At a symposium held at Beijing University of International Business and Economics on November 6, Qian Lifang, Wu Yan, Wang Jinkang, Han Song, and He Xi discussed science fiction and popular literature. The event also marked the launch of Qian’s new book, Destiny of Heaven. Her previous novel, Will of Heaven, was a best-seller that represented a breakthrough for the genre. Gu Bei, a translator, spoke on the need for SF to be entertaining and warned against elitism.

 

SF Channel at the Chinese Writers’ Association

The Chinese Writers’ Association website, which launched in 2002, recently added a science fiction subsection devoted to introducing writers, recommending books, and covering the latest publishing activity in partnership with the CWA’s newspaper, the Journal of Literature and Art. Few mainstream literary periodicals pay much attention to SF works or criticism, and the JLA hopes to use its position to remedy that situation. Previously, the CWA had partnered with the Lu Xun Literary Institute to conduct a correspondence course in SF.

 

Albert Tam Praises the Skill of Mainland SF Authors

At the launch ceremony for the mainland edition of Humanoid Software held inGuangzhou on October 28, full-time SF writer Albert Tam praised the high level of science fiction on the mainland. Tam, the “heir to Ni Kuang,” said that SF publishing in Hong Kong andTaiwan can no longer afford to overlook the many readers and authors on the mainland, and, in Liu Cixin, a level of work that approaches western SF. At present, neitherTaiwan nor HK publishes a SF magazine.

 

Taiwan SF Bibliography Shuts Down

On October 27, Daneel Lynn took down his Complete Bibliography of Taiwan SF. Lynn, who maintains the blog “The SF Commonwealth Office in Taiwan,” said he will keep an incomplete Excel version of the bibliography for one year and intends to turn it over to any person or group willing to maintain it. On the heels of Yeh Lee-hwa’s closure of the Center for SF Studies after ten years and the suspension of the Ni Kuang Awards, this is yet another sign of the attitudes of the Internet, publishers, and the marketplace toward SF.

 

A Finger on the Pulse of Children’s SF

On October 29, domestic SF writers held a discussion on the “Essential Classics of SF” book series. In attendance were Liu Xingshi, representingChina’s first generation of SF authors, Chen Fanglie, vice-president of the China Science Writers’ Association, and authors Jin Tao, Zhang Jing, Yang Peng, and Su Xuejun. The series is currently in the planning stage at the children’s literature division of the Publishing House of Electronics Industry. To be published in five installments, the series will be the first major collection of domestic science fiction and will cover more than sixty titles by thirty-odd writers.

 

Three Body Sells Digital Rights

The exclusive rights to the digital edition of Liu Cixin’s Three Body trilogy were sold to Yunlei Reading Laboratory, a subsidiary of the mobile web portal3G, which will release the book for mobile platforms. An app version of the book is in development and is expected to be released by year-end.

 

New Realms of F&SF 2^nd Anniversary Anthology

The second anniversary anthology from the e-zine New Realms of Fantasy and Science Fiction comes with a CD containing digital editions (in pdf and epub formats) of all 26 issues to date, mp3 audio versions of fifteen stories, a pdf version of last year’s anniversary anthology, and two indie SF films, Life in an Instant and Seven Days. The second anthology includes twenty-one stories and four poems, for a total length of 206,000 characters.

 

Star Home Celebrates Third Anniversary

On November 11, 2011, the specialty SF online bookshop Star Home celebrated its third anniversary. It launched three years ago with ten boxes of books ordered from the SFW agency and is now the largest online bookstore devoted to Chinese-language science fiction, with annual sales of over a million yuan.

 

Taiwan Filmmaker Wants to Make a Chinese Star Wars

Leon Dai (No puedo vivir sin ti) has said that his ultimate dream is to shoot a Chinese-language SF blockbuster along the lines of Star Wars. He projected a budget of NT$50 billion (around 10 billion RMB) and would aim for an international market. Dai has been looking for financiers to help him realize this dream.

 

World’s First 3D SF Acrobatic Show

In 2009, the China National Acrobatic Troupe produced the 3D acrobatic show “Goodbye UFO,” which embedded a science fiction theme throughout the performance. At the beginning of 2011, the show ran for two months at EDA Royal Theater inKaohsiung,Taiwan, and it will reportedly be brought toZhengzhouandChongqingby year-end.

Ed. Bing Li & Dongmei Ren, Trans. Joel Martinsen

 

科幻协会“一大”和第二届华语科幻星云奖

在世界华人科幻协会第一次全体会议上，吴岩会长介绍了协会现状：目前会员超过九十人，包括国内各省区和港台以及美、英、澳、加等海外会员。次日（11月12日）晚，华语科幻界最大的聚会——第二届全球华语科幻星云奖颁奖典礼在四川科技馆举行，150名来自中国内地、港台以及美、加、澳、日等国的作家、编辑、出版人、评论家、影视动漫工作者齐聚成都。通过上万张选票，产生了入围小说类、影视类和人物类共计10项奖项，并在当晚揭晓了最后的金银奖。协会还在大会现场与三家出版单位签订了战略合作协议，建立了科幻文学出版的战略伙伴关系。

 

第二届全球华语科幻星云奖金奖获奖名单

最佳长篇科幻小说奖：

金奖：《三体3·死神永生》        作者：刘慈欣

 

最佳中篇科幻小说奖：

金奖：《人生不相见》             作者：何夕

 

最佳短篇科幻小说奖：

金奖：《再生砖》                 作者：韩松

 

最受手机读者欢迎科幻小说奖：

金奖：空缺

 

最佳科幻图书奖：

金奖：《星潮》                   董仁威主编

重庆出版社出版

 

最佳科幻期刊奖：

金奖：                          《科幻世界》杂志

 

最佳科幻影视作品奖：

金奖：空缺

 

最佳科幻作家奖：

金奖：刘慈欣、王晋康

 

最佳科幻编辑奖：

金奖：杨枫

 

最佳科幻传播奖：

金奖：吴岩

 

“云论坛”

11月12日的下午，众多科幻迷、出版机构和动画从业者，以及来自中国大陆、香港、台湾和日本的科幻作者与研究者，齐聚四川科技馆，共同探讨科幻写作以及科幻与未来的问题。北京师范大学教授吴岩、《科幻世界》杂志主编姚海军、科幻作家韩松、科幻作家王晋康、香港科幻协会会长、科普及科幻作家李伟才、科幻作家刘慈欣、台湾科幻作家黄海、天津理工大学教授舒伟、台湾《科学周刊》创始人、科普及科幻作家张之杰、北京师范大学博士任冬梅、日本科幻奇幻作家立原透耶、北京师范大学硕士贾彬以及浙江科幻研究者姜振宇等人做了专题报告。

 

挪威“中国文学周”韩松谈中国科幻

  11月14日，提前结束第二届华语科幻星云奖日程的韩松前往挪威参加“中国文学周”活动，同去的作家和学者还有虹影、棉棉、徐则臣、程永新、汪晖等。韩松为此撰文《在北欧做“科幻大使”》，详细描述了这次行程。挪威人对中国科幻非常好奇，并且也有一些了解。挪威本国的科幻现状和中国类似，也不受主流文学待见。

 

科幻通俗化？

11月6日，科幻文学通俗化之路研讨会暨钱莉芳新作《天命》首发式在北京对外经贸大学举行，钱莉芳、吴岩、王晋康、韩松、何夕等科幻作家学者出席了研讨会。曾经打破科幻书籍发行坚冰的《天意》全新修订版日前也已经面市。在今年的科幻协会会员大会上，顾备也提出科幻应该“娱乐化”，质疑“精英化”的路线。

 

中国作家协会官网开办科幻频道

创办于2002年的中国作家协会官网“中国作家网”日前推出了科幻频道，专门介绍作家和出版动态，推荐作品和热门话题。频道管理人希望《文艺报》与中国作家网共同打造中国原创科幻文学，坦言如今致力于研究科幻和发表科幻的主流文学报刊很少，《文艺报》在这方面比较有兴趣也比较有实力，希望对此作出一定贡献。中国作家网曾与鲁迅文学院共同创办过科幻创作函授班。科幻频道链接：http://www.chinawriter.com.cn/kehuan/

 

香港作家谭剑称大陆科幻小说水平高

10月28日，被称为“倪匡第二”的香港全职科幻作者谭剑在广州参加《人形软件》宣传活动，谭剑称赞大陆科幻小说水平高，表示港台地区出版科幻小说时已经无法忽视大陆市场。大陆的科幻小说在华文世界水平最高，读者最多，作家也最多，刘慈欣的作品差不多达到了西方科幻的水准，台湾和香港却还没有一本科幻杂志。

 

台湾科幻全书目正式关闭

10月27日，由猫昌研究的台湾科幻全书目关闭。此前猫昌一直在收集台湾的科幻出版物，并制作书目。继叶李华经营十年的科幻研究中心关停、倪匡奖停办后，面对网络和出版社以及市场对科幻的态度，猫昌删除了全书目并在网上留言说，只留下一个内容被删改过的残缺Excel文档，保留一年，提供给有意延续全书目计划的团体/个人。

 

年度最大科幻丛书即将出版

吉林人民出版社即将推出一套年度规模最大的二十卷短篇科幻作品集，名为《当代中国新锐作家方阵——青少年科幻奇幻读本》，除成名科幻作家外还包括一些80后新作家的作品。出版社表示这只是他们在科幻方面的试水之作，日后将对科幻、科普出版物投入更多资源。

 

科幻作家为原创少儿科幻丛书“把脉”

10月29日，国内的科幻作家齐聚“名家经典科幻文学精粹”丛书研讨会，中国第一代科幻作家刘兴诗，中国科普作家协会副理事长陈芳烈，科幻作家金涛、张静、杨鹏、苏学军等人，在电子工业出版社少儿分社召开的这场“名家经典科幻文学精粹”丛书研讨会上，纷纷为正在锤炼中的这套丛书出谋划策。此次少儿分社正在打造的是国内首部大型原创名家科幻文学的集粹。为此，特收集了改革开放以来30多位作者的60多部作品，分成5卷册来出版。

 

《三体》系列全版数字版权独家运营

近日，《三体》系列作者刘慈欣与3G门户云雷书系签约，作品全数字版权由其独家运营，近期《三体》数字版将在移动阅读基地等平台陆续上线，《三体》全版APP也在紧张开发中，预计年内即可上线。

 

《新幻界贰周年精选集》12月预捐

电子杂志《新幻界》第二本年度精选集依然配套光盘——包含全部26期的电子期刊（pdf和epub）和15篇有声小说（mp3），《壹周年精选集》pdf版和两部民间科幻DV（科幻特效短片《七日》、星云奖提名《闪光的生命》）视频。《新幻界贰周年精选集》选入21篇小说，4篇诗歌，总字数20.6万字，同样在“星之所在”网络书店预捐发行。

 

“星之所在”科幻书店开业三周年

2011年11月11日是专业网络科幻书店“星之所在”开业三周年的日子。三年前从杂志社进货十箱图书开始起步的幼苗，如今已成长为年销售额过百万的网上最大专业中文科幻书店。

 

台湾影人欲拍华语星球大战

台湾导演戴立忍近日坦言自己的最终梦想是拍摄一部《星球大战》那样的华语科幻巨片。并透露自己的项目预计投资五十亿台币（约十亿人民币），并以国际市场为目标。他一直在寻找投资以实现这一梦想。

 

中国人制作全球首台科幻3D杂技剧

中国杂技团2009年制作出全球首台科幻3D杂技剧《再见飞碟》，用一个科幻故事串接包装杂技表演。2011年元旦该剧在台湾高雄义大皇家剧院连续表演两个月，据悉《再见飞碟》年内还将陆续在郑州、重庆等地表演。

 

编辑：李兵、任冬梅    翻译： Joel Martinsen