With the attendance of seven international writers from across the world, Shanghai Writing Program opened its doors to the Chinese cultural community and the literary vibe.(( Notice that we will introduce the writer’s short biography at the end of the article)).

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While In the following lines we can recognise this association which is belonging to the Chinese Literary union of creative writers.

Shanghai Writing Program opened with the big ceremony attended by its two vice presidents, Mr. Wang Wei and Mr. Ma Wenyun

Shanghai Writers' Association currently has more than 1800 members from all walks of life. The Association is divided into the following specializations: novels, poetry, children's literature, prose. foreign literature, theory, films and plays, as well as classical literature. It also publishes magazines including Harvest (bi-monthly), Shanghai Literature (monthly), The Bud (monthly), Si Nan Literary Journal(bi-monthly) and Shanghai Culture (bi-monthly). Besides, it has two literary website: www.myhuayu.com and www.yunwenxue.com.

Hosted by Shanghai Writers' Association, The Shanghai Writing Program invites several internationally acclaimed writers to spend two months in Shanghai, China. This residency program, is an annual event which first began in 2008, to date we have hosted 100 writers from 38 countries.

It is our hope that the international writers will be inspired by their exposure to Chinese culture and Shanghai literature while living in Shanghai. To further this aim, we will host a series of literary Events, with a view to introducing the guest writers to the city and the people of Shanghai.

 

This year the program title is;” Cities that appear distant”

The idea of the title is that

Cities have emerged as hubs of human interaction, facilitating the exchange of not just goods but also words, desires, and memories. Over time, they have evolved into bustling centers where people come together, sharing both their joys and sorrows. Your city and mine exist at such a vast distance from each other that they appear invisible, seemingly disconnected. However, with your arrival, these two distant cities will eventually catch sight of each other, extending warm greetings and sharing the secrets of their people's happy inhabitation. As a writer, you serve as the witness to and bearer of the secrets, bridging the gap between these far-flung urban landscapes. We eagerly anticipate your role as the messenger, connecting places that remain distant from each other.

Furthermore, we anticipate your assistance in providing us with a unique perspective, one that enables us to reflect on ourselves from a remote vantage point.

The heroes of the big events are the Writers who are representing their continents and they are as the following ;

 

The first writer is

PhD Abeer Almadawy ,from Egypt

 

Novelist, Journalist. Abeer Almadawy started to write stories early at her 10 and won her first award at the age of thirteen. She was titled with the youngest story teller as she published her first book of stories collection Cry of Conscience at 16. She has published 5 novels, 3 e-books and 5 collections of stories. Her books succeeded in most of the international books Exhibition especially in KSA and Gulf countries as well as North Africa, USA, UK and Chile.Her best novels such as;

The embrace of thorns, suicide by love,won’t back down to the dried river,The foreigner’s island .

She works as an international journalist and gives lectures professor at communications mass.

Also she has 2 Masters in philosophy of literature and Doctoral degrees in philosophy of the electronic and cinematic journalism.

 

 Second Writer is Bernhard Hennen , From Germany

 

Born in Krefeld in 1966, Bernhard Hennen is an educated Germanist, Archaeologist and Historian. He completed his studies at the University of Cologne. (During his studies he took part in two archaeological excavation campaigns.) Already during his studies he worked as a journalist for various newspapers and radio stations. In 1993 he wrote his first novel Das Jahr des Greifen together with Wolfgang Hohibein, which was awarded the prize for best German fantasy novel in the same year. There are currently more than 50 historical and fantasy novels by Bernhard Hennen, as well as a number of short stories and novellas. In 2004, Bernhard Hennen made his literary breakthrough with his novel The Elves. Since then, his books have been translated into ten languages and have been on the German bestselling lists for more than 100 weeks. He has sold 5 million books. At the Leipzig Book Fair 2019 he was awarded the Seraph (the most renowned fantasy novel award in Germany) 2019 in the category "Best Book".

 

Third writer is Clara Chow ,from Singapore

 

Clara Chow started her career in journalism before publishing her first story collection, Dream Storeys, in 2016. Since then, she has written three more volumes of short fiction, two travelogues, the bilingual Lousy Love Poems and an experimental prose chapbook There Is No Why, Only... She runs indie publisher Hermit Press, with an interest in handmade books. In 2022, she became the first person to be shortlisted in three categories and two languages for the Singapore Literature Prize.

 

Fourth writer is Kristel Thornell , From Australia

 

Kristel Thornell was born in New South Wales, Australia, and has also lived in Italy, Mexico, Canada, the US and France. She holds a B.A. with First Class Honours and the University Medal from the University of Sydney, and a Ph.D. in Creative Writing from the University of Western Sydney. Thornell was named one of the Best Young Australian Novelists by The Sydney Morning Herald. Her first novel, Night Street, co-won the Australian/ Vogel Award and won the Dobbie, the Barbara Ramsden and the Andrew Eiseman awards. Night Street has been an official text for secondary school study, optioned for film and published in Canada by Goose Lane Editions. Thornell's second novel, On the Blue Train, was published by Allen & Unwin, and in China by Lijiang Publishing.

She was awarded an Australia Council for the Arts residency in Rome in 2017. Her latest novel, The Sirens Sing, was published by Fourth Estate.

 

Fifth writer is Melinda Szymanik  ,From New Zealand

 

 

Melinda Szymanik is an award-winning New Zealand author of stories for young people, including novels, short stories and picture books. She also writes poetry for adults and children. Author of stories for young people, including novels, short stories and picture books. She also writes poetry for adults and children. With nearly twenty published books to her name, noteworthy titles include: The Were-Nana (2008), winner of Children's Choice at the 2009 NZ Post Children's Book Awards, A Winter's Day in 1939 (2013), winner of Librarian's Choice at the 2014

LIANZA Awards, and Fuzzy Doodle, a 2017

White Raven selection. Recent books include the short story collection Time Machine and Other Stories, a finalist for the 2020 NZCYA Awards, and the picture books, My Elephant is Blue and There Are No Moa, e Hoa, both recipients of Storylines Notable Book Awards.

Melinda was the 2014 University of Otago, College of Education, Creative New Zealand Children's Writer in Residence, and a judge for the 2016 NZCYA Book Awards. Melinda is a visiting author in schools and teaches creative writing to both children and adults.

 

The sixth writer is Santiago Loza , from Argentina

 

Santiago Loza was born in 1971 in Cordoba, Argentina. He studied at the Cinema School of the National Institute of Cinematography and at the Municipal School of Dramatic Art.

As a writer, he has published two non-fictions, three novels and two theater books. He also wrote more than 30 plays as a scriptwriter and received the National Prizes Trinidad Guevara, Theaters Of the World, Konex And Nominations To The Prizes Florencio Sanchez And Mar 1 a Guerrero. In 2023 he won the National Literature Award, Film Screenplay Category. In 2019 he was selected for the International Writing Program residency at the University of Iowa in the United States.

As a film director, his films have appeared in numerous festivals, obtaining multiple national and international awards. He was a jury at the festivals of Lima, Bafici, Cannes too.

 

The seventh writer is Sofronis Sofroniou ,from  Cyprus

Sofronis Sofroniou studied Psychology in Nicosia and Neuroscience in New York.

His first novel, The Progenitors (2015), was honoured with the State Prize for Novel in Cyprus and the Award for Emerging Fiction Writer by the Greek Authors Society. The book has been translated into multiple languages. His second novel, Crude Iron

(2017) has been presented in the form of a full-scale opera and has been translated into French (Zulma Editions, 2023). It is currently on the shortlist for the translation award at the Arles Translation Festival (November 2023).

Excerpts have also been published in the translation magazine of Princeton University (Inventory, 2019). The author has participated in various literary festivals, such as the EU-China International Literary Festival (Beijing,

2019) and the Paris Book Festival (April 2023).

His new novel is currently under publication (Patakis Editions, 2023).

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