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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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Poet fails to please by winning top prize
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CHINA’S prestigious Lu Xun Literature Prize has come under fire after its latest winner’s work was dismissed as “nothing more than doggerel” in online comments.
Zhou Xiaotian, a poet and professor at the literature and journalism college of Sichuan University, won the prize for his poetry collection “Jiang Jin Cha” or Invitation to Tea.
Not long after the announcement, Zhou’s verses were posted online by some Internet users who said they were “doggerel unworthy of the prize.”
Many criticized the winner for the colloquial style of his poems based on the late singer-actor Leslie Cheung from Hong Kong and another on Nobel prize winner in physics Yang Zhenning.
“The 28-year-old wife and the 82-year-old husband, one for talent and the other for lust,” was one line of his poem about the physicist’s high-profile marriage at the age of 82 in 2004.
“I’ve never heard of this poet, but I’m suspicious of the quality of his work submitted to the committee after reading those provided by online users,” said Fang Fang, a writer based in Wuhan, Hubei Province.
“Are those judges really adept? Did they make judgment on the work’s quality or on the candidates’ connections?” Fang added.
Zhou, however, rejected criticism of his work.
“Doggerel is not necessarily ill-written poetry. You can hardly expect people to read serious poems nowadays,” Zhou said in an interview with Xinhua news agency.
He defended the selection process, saying the voting procedure was transparent and based on a real-name system.
Fan Xing, a professor at Wuhan University, supported Zhou, saying it is almost impossible for a poet to ensure every single verse is well-written.
“It’s only some of Zhou’s poems that have aroused controversy,” Fan added, while admitting he considers some lines unrefined.
The prize named after Lu Xun, one of China’s best-known modern authors and essayists, was first awarded in 1986.
Writers of novels, poems, prose, essays, reportage, literary reviews and theoretical works are eligible for the award, which is bestowed every three years.
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