Writer Xue Mo Ranked No.1 in the list of Top Topics in the International Media during the 2022 Frankfurt Book Fair

Writer Xue Mo ranked No.1 in the list of Top Topics in the event, who even surpassed the Spanish Guest of Honor and became the most talked-about figure .

AURORA, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES , February 13, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ -- According to the latest statistical response analysis of media presence conducted by Meltwater, the Frankfurt Book Fair attracted 38,004 mentions in online media outlets from September 23rd to October 31st 2022 worldwide. Notably, Chinese writer Xue Mo ranked No.1 in the list of Top Topics in the International Media (including print, online, radio and television), who even surpassed the Spanish Guest of Honor and became the most talked-about figure during this event.

First organized by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association in 1949, the Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF) is recognized as the most important book fair for international deals and trading. The six-day annual event in October is held at the Frankfurt Trade Fair grounds in Germany. Each year, more than 7,000 exhibitors from over 100 countries, sending exceeding 300,000 new products to the Fair. As the world's largest trading hub for digital and printed content, FBF is labeled as the "world cultural vane."Nowadays, it is also considered to be one of the most important platforms for China's publishers and booksellers to export copyright overseas.

Cultural scholar and prolific writer Xue Mo, whose real name is Chen Kaihong, has been nominated three times for the Mao Dun Literature Prize, one of the most prestigious literature awards in China, with his most world-renowned works including Desert Rites, Desert Hunters, White Tiger Pass, Liangzhou Ci, Wild Fox Ridge, and Curse of Xixia. The publication of more works, namely Xue Mo's Commentary on Dao De Jing (I-IV) and his epic poem Suo Sa Lang (I-VIII), established him as a significant figure in the contemporary Chinese literature as well as an essential presence in the literary representation of China's West. Selected Stories by Xue Mo, a collection of wonderful stories themed on the culture, life and spirit of China's West, has been translated into over 20 different languages, namely French, German and Spanish. The wisdom flowing from his fingertips has lit up the hearts of countless readers.

The 74th Frankfurt Book Fair was held in Germany from Oct 19th to 23rd 2022. Over 30 works of Chinese writer Xue Mo were exhibited in the booth of the China International Book Trading Corporation (CIBTC). The themed exhibit of Contemporary Chinese author caught the attention of global publishing houses and copyright agencies, with the booth populated with visitors and publishers looking to get their hands on his works. In particular, the short story Xue Mo and His Light was reported or re-posted by more than 2,000 international media.

Co-sponsored by CIBTC and Beijing Ruxue Media, the themed exhibit "Everyone Enters Their Own Desert: Xue Mo and His Light" concluded with a huge success on October 23rd. To be noted, distinguished guests were also invited to attend a panel discussion on Xue Mo's novels and commentaries, including Ms. Christina Werum Wang, the German director of the Confucius Institute in Frankfurt; Mr. Jin Ri, the Chinese director of the Confucius Institute in Frankfurt; Ms. Tali Carmi and Ms. Dani Silas, the representatives of Israeli publishing house, and other international publishers, translators and scholars.

Translated from Chinese by the American translator Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin into English, Into the Desert is a story included in Xue Mo's full-length novel White Tiger Pass. Goldblatt said that both reading and translating Xue Mo's works are not like any other experience, adding that he hoped his translation might allow English readers to fully appreciate the beauty of China's West, while Sylvia Li-chun Lin praised highly of Xue Mo's works for his profound depictions of Western Chinese life. Until now, Goldblatt and Li have co-translated (or are co-translating) nine of Xue Mo's full-length novels and one epic poem in total.

"I'm very honored to have the opportunity to introduce Xue Mo's novels to English readers and open a window for them to have a glimpse of Chinese literature." said the British translator Nicky Harman, who has won the 14th Special Book Award of China.

"Xue Mo's works introduce to the world the contemporary survival of the northwest countryside in China, including physical survival, spiritual survival, the survival of nature and culture as well, which all tested the people's ability to resist, survive, and laugh on tough experience. His novels not only bring us artistic enjoyment, but also enlightenment and redemption in some extent." said the Mexican translator Lisa Carducci.

Other invitees also gave compliments to Xue Mo's works. They were: Sarah Lam, the BBC Radio Four presenter; Angus Stewart, the popular blogger in the UK; Nicola Clayton, the producer of the English audio-book Selected Stories by Xue Mo; Maria Morigi, the prize winner of the History of Oriental Philosophy as well as Italian Translator Paolo Marcenaro and Yoann Bernard, the president of the Swiss Book Agency Association.

Mrs. Liu, the deputy secretary-general of the Publishers Association of China, once acclaimed that the multilingual translation of Xue Mo's works would play an important role in promoting China's cooperation with international communities.

With more international publication of Xue Mo's works, an increasing number of overseas publishers, translators and readers will gain a better, deeper understanding of Xue Mo's novels and commentaries, Chinese literature and culture, and even China.

Based on the latest statistical response analysis of media presence conducted by Meltwater, the top ten online and print media which included the keyword "Xue Mo" are shown in the chart above. On the left side, online media potentially reached 1,035 million website visitors, including Tencent News, MSN.com, The New York Times, CNN, The Washington Post, Yahoo News, etc.; on the right side, print media potentially reached 27.5 million readers, including Bild am sonntag, Chrismon, Stern, etc. Hence, the total potential reach may add up to 1.06 billion. In addition, "Xue Mo" and his works have been covered by more than 2,000 media outlets worldwide.

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Xue Mo and His Light
By Anuo
Translated by Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin

Xue Mo, born in China’s far west, is a writer who plumbs the earth with his footsteps and lives through his pen. A favorite son of the Qilian Mountain Range, he has fashioned his life and his aspirations out of the natural scenery and musical traditions of the place. He travels far in the fulfillment of his dreams and never stops searching; he wields a pen to memorialize his hometown and writes with passion. The wisdom flowing from his fingertips lights up the hearts of countless readers.

Xue Mo was born in a remote, impoverished village threatened by blowing sand and perennial drought. When he was a child, not a single book, other than school textbooks, could be found in his village; hunger was constant, and undernourishment stunted his growth. And yet, he dreamed of becoming a writer. How could a child with nothing make the dream come true? No one in and outside his family could help him, and he had none of what was needed to succeed. He saw not a shred of hope.

One day, his maternal uncle said to his parents,“Plant a long pole in your yard and put a light on its tip. Every day at nightfall, turn the light on and silently recite, ‘The enlightened exert themselves constantly/the virtuous endure onerous duties.’ Keep at it and one day someone in your family will gain fame.”

Xue Mo’s parents, born of peasant stock and illiterate, believed what his uncle told them. They cut down a small tree in the riverbend, stripped its leaves, and planted it in their yard. The pole rose into the sky among squat rammed-earth houses, its tip adorned with a light that was turned on each evening. The electricity for the light was a major expense and a burden to a family with practically nothing, but it kept coming on night after night for years. The sky always seems higher in the west than elsewhere; at night it is a deep, black curtain dotted with stars that emit cold glints, distant and unreachable. But not the light in the yard that emitted a ray of hope and sent warmth into a child’s heart.

That light shone all through Xue Mo’s childhood, saw him into puberty and adulthood. He saw hope whenever he looked at it.

The light in his heart set off against the light in the night sky to shine a way for this tenacious village boy to grow up.

Under its light, Xue Mo exerted himself unceasingly and endured onerous burdens. Day after day, for decades.

It was his companion as he grew up.

In 2000 the publication of Desert Rites brought him instant fame and recognition. Desert Hunters and White Tiger Pass followed, both to critical acclaim, widely considered as representative works of China’s Nativist literary tradition. Collectively titled The Desert Trilogy, they were begun when he was twenty-five and completed at forty-six; he’d given twenty of his best years to China’s peasants through the three volumes.

The publication of three more works, The Curse of Xixia, White Fox Ridge, and The Monk and the Spirit Woman, established him as an important figure in contemporary Chinese literature as well as an essential presence in the literary representation of China’s West. Lei Da, president of the Chinese Fiction Society and a well-respected literary critic, once said, “Xue Mo’s appearance was a unique literary phenomenon, for he represented a kind of culture, a zeitgeist, human dignity, and an ideal. It was a miraculous occurrence, for he gained great insights from delving deeply into the mentality and
temperament of Chinese peasants. The powerful force exhibited in his works is beyond the ability of many Chinese writers.” Professor Chen Sihe at Fudan University had the following to say, “Xue Mo and Zhang Chengzhi are the two most spiritual writers from the west,” and “he carries on the vitality seen in the work of Xiao Hong.” Chen Xiaoming of Peking University lamented that “Xue Mo is a severely undervalued writer,” who is “a major figure in contemporary Chinese literature.”

With his pen as a banner, Xue Mo trudged out of his village into urban areas, that light shining bright in his heart the whole time.

The light is the totem of his life, always aglow, wherever he may be at whatever time.

Under the light, he has ceaselessly exerted himself, completing True Heart, Beyond Emptiness, Guru’s Secrets, An Outline of Xue Mo’s Study of the Mind, A Study Guide for Cultural Transmission, and others. Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, an influential press, established a special division for Xue Mo’s works and published a series of his writing on the mind. Meanwhile, Xue Mo has himself become a light for many people through his study of the mind. His works light up many people’s lives. Where there are ethnic Chinese, there will be books by Xue Mo, and special division on Xue Mo can be found in the US, Canada, Europe, and Southeast Asia.

His Suosalang, an epic poem in eighty thousand lines and over a million words, emerged from his own study and lifelong practice. It helps fill in the lack of epic poetry in Chinese literary history. According to a scholar, it is a fantastic and yet extremely realistic epic poem that depicts an expansive, impactful, and emotionally moving battle of destinies, a colorful scroll that weaves together the conflict between good and evil, love and spiritual devotion, exploits and ordinary life, war and peace, self and Universal Love, a long journey that exposes human nature, helps cleanse the soul, and shines a bright light on life, a divine work no one should miss.

That is because Xue Mo writes with his life, writes about the world and human souls to light up himself and others.Whenever he encounters setbacks, Xue Mo knows he has inexhaustible strength so long as the light in his heart is on.

That light is hope and dreams.
Every one of us needs the light.
All humankind needs the light.
The light may be faint, but it can penetrate the darkest of nights.

Ida Liu
Ruxue International Media Inc
+1 773-648-5522
ruxue_media@163.com
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Writer Xue Mo