The Wang Anyi Literature Exchange Meeting was held in The Belgium-China Exchange Centre of Women in conjunction with the Europalia China Art Festival on Nov 13. Among the 50 participants was Wang Xiaofang, wife of Zhang Yuanyuan, Chinese Ambassador to Belgium.

Wang is a Chinese writer and the current chairperson of the Writers' Association of Shanghai. The meeting included an interview with Wang and Q&A sections, where she shed light on the influence of family and writers from home and abroad on her literature career. Wang also mentioned the differences between Chinese male and female authors in writing. According to her, male writers put more focus on historic events, and they prefer to be straight-forward and fierce, while female writers pay more attention to interpersonal relations and are more moderate.

When discussing the limited international recognition of Chinese works, Wang said western values always dominated the international evaluation system and Chinese to English translation could degrade the original beauty of the works.

After the two-hour meeting, participants said they were impressed by Wang’s calm demeanor and confidence and many asked her for further discussions, autographs, and photos.

By Xia Ling