Twenty foreigners win the 9th Special Book Award of China in Beijing

Canadian writer Lisa Carducci speaks at the news conference. [Photo/China.com.cn]

Eric Abrahamsen said at the conference that he decided to stay in Beijing in 2001, and worked as an English editor for a Chinese literature magazine. He hoped to let more people in Western countries learn more about the real situation in Chinese literature.

"Chinese publishing companies want to expand their overseas influence, but foreign publishing companies know little about Chinese literature. So we are just the power to help them," he said.

Lisa Carducci, who won a national-level French award with her translation of Wolf Totem, also said in the conference that she enjoyed her work and life in China very much.

"China is my motherland right now. I feel like I'm home when I stay in China. I hope to help other foreigners know more about Chinese people and Chinese culture, and make them feel happy when they are in China, just like what I feel," she said.

Zombory Klara, the translator of Mo Yan, Yu Hua and several noted Chinese contemporary writers' work, said that since Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize for Literature, more Hungarian readers are paying attention to Chinese contemporary literature, but there aren't enough translated works to meet their needs.

"In the past, many readers in my country knew nothing about Chinese contemporary writers. They only knew several classic writers like Lu Xun and Lao She. Now, with my translation works and works by my professors and other translators, Hungarian readers meet a new and different world, the world of China. Many readers are deeply attracted by the fancy words and interesting stories by Chinese writers," she said.