Kinmen County literary awards won by 7 writers

Seven writers received awards for fiction and prose writing at the annual Wudao Literary Awards, the Kinmen County government announced earlier December.

Huang Dongtao (???), a Hong Kong-based Indonesia-born Chinese, and Chou Chih-chiang (???) received second place for fiction writing and a cash prize of NT$200,000 (US$6,229) each, after the jury determined none of the submitted works were of a sufficient standard to qualify for the first prize, Kinmen County Cultural Affairs Bureau said. The award ceremony was held on Dec. 17.

Huang's work is a combination of historical fiction and family history, focused on "Jia Zheng Di" (???), a house built in about 1910 by his grandfather Huang Cheng-chen (???), who was a Kapitein der Chinezen (???) or community leader in the Dutch East Indies.

The house in Jincheng Township was once designated a historic building but sold and demolished in 2006.

Chou's work "The Principal is a Communist Party of China Spy" (?????) depicts how Republic of China civilian-military government impacted the lives and psychology of Kinmen residents during the cold war years of 1949-1992. The work depicts life on the island county, which is located about 10 kilometers from Xiamen on the southeast coast of China.

Hsia Wei-tse (???), a sophomore student at Chinese Culture University, won first prize in the prose category and received NT$100,000.

Hsia's work "Dimmed Light in Autumn Days" (????) is based on the recollection and stories of his grandfather, who was a soldier in Kinmen during the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1958 and celebrated his 80th birthday earlier this year.

Ho Chih-ming (???), Tsai Chi-hsiang (???), Lu Wu-lung (???) and Liu Chih-hung (???) each won second prize for prose writing and NT$50,000.

The organizers received 11 submissions for fiction and 82 in the prose category this year.

The bureau increased the first place cash prize for fiction writing from NT$30,000 over the past 12 years to NT$500,000 this year and officials declared themselves satisfied with the results.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel