Chinese authors arrive in Canada for tri-city literary symposium

The poets and celebrated authors Harry Thurston and Allan Cooper co-wrote The Deer Yard, an ode to 8th-century Chinese port Wang Wei's famous poetry.

"Wang Wei's poems belong to the landscape or wildness or Shan-Shui (Mountains-Rivers). Our poetry is rooted in the natural world and we have looked to the east, to classical Chinese poetry to express our relationship with the environment," said Thurston, current TWUC chair.

These statements added to the rich conversations that were developing in this astute atmosphere. Questions concerning publication and government support were asked by author Susan Swan whose critically acclaimed fiction has been published in 20 countries.

Her probing questions concerning China's support of literary artists was met with astounding surprise by the Canadian delegates.

The Chinese government richly endorses the literary arts, and writers are given privileged access to funding to allow them to grow and write superb literature.

Chinese Nobel laureate Mo Yan came from such a program that allowed him to become China's answer to Franz Kafka or Joseph Heller.

In Canada, recent publishing rules regarding an author's book sales escalated from 5,000 books to 25,000 books, allowing the already discriminating publishers to decline more writers.

Censorship in Canada, as described by Swan, is driven by economic forces creating a barrier against Canadian voices. Swan elaborates, "I'm sure most small countries are facing this dilemma. It's not China's dilemma but it is ours." The digital age has changed many reader's habits globally and caused publishing to evolve its market paradigm.

Luckily for Tashi Dawa, a member of China's Federation of Literacy and Art Circles, his work has been adapted into films. The award winning writer is one of the most famous Tibetan writers in China. Dawa's books are translated into eight languages including English, Italian and Japanese.

Dawa, along with fellow Chinese authors, will continue to explore Sino-Canadian literature over the next few days. After Sunday's forum at the authors festival, the writers will meet with the Chinese community members at an event sponsored by the Confucius Institute at Seneca College and the Chinese Pen Society of Canada.

On Tuesday, the delegates will participate in further discussions and cultural activities organized by the Confucius Institute in Quebec and the Centre Internationaliste Ryerson Foundation Aubin (CIRFA) in Montreal.

Organizers believed that the 2014 Symposium has delivered more than in the past years, as all the literary parties involved shared an astounding rapport and language and cultural gaps were non-existent.