The Beijing-based novelist Cao Wenxuan, who is receiving the Hans Christian Andersen Prize for 2016 in New Zealand, has recently grabbed a lot of public attention in the world of words.
"Shortlist awards, from China Cao Wenxuan, from Denmark Louis Jensen, from Germany Mirjam Pressler, the Netherlands Ted van Lieshout, and the USA Lois Lowry, and the winner, of course, is Cao Wenxuan from China."
Cao Wenxuan has become the first Chinese author to win the Hans Christian Andersen award for children's literature.
The award is considered the top prize in the field. It is sometimes called the Little Nobel Prize for Literature.
Gao Hongbo, an outstanding writer and critic of children's literature, comments on Cao Wenxuan's win.
"After a few decades years' arduous efforts, Chinese children's literature has taken a big leap forward."
Cao Wenxuan's win was announced in April this year, at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy.
This reminds Gao Hongbo of the first time he participated in the Bologna Children's Book Fair.
"My first time participating in the Bologna Children's Book Fair was just three years ago in 2013. Cao Wenxuan and another senior children's literature publisher Bai Bing were with me. The China Children's Press and Publication Group had a 90 square meter space or so for authors to showcase their books. On other Chinese publishers' stands, few Chinese children's literature books could be found, with some outdated ones, and even including school teaching materials. This made it hard for visitors to understand the overall picture of the Chinese children's literature development in 2013."
Gao Hongbo added Cao Wenxuan's win should arouse more concern from relevant authorities to pool their efforts in developing Chinese children's literature together.
62-year old Cao Wenxuan is the Peking University professor who gets well known in literary circles in China, and has won several prizes at home.
