Chinese writer Cao Wenxuan, who received the Hans Christian Andersen Prize 2016 on August 20 in New Zealand, has recently attended a salon on children's literature in Beijing, along with famous Swedish author Ulf Stark.
Cao Wenxuan has many awarding-winning novels including The Grass House, Bronze and Sunflower, Dingding and Dangdang. Readers have found a tendency to see the worst aspect of things in most of his novels.
Cao Wenxuan explains his pessimism in his writings.
"As soon as I write, my work of literature is found to immerse in an emotional distress, which stems from my miserable childhood. For several decades, I had been suffering badly from hunger. A serious state of hunger has already driven me further and further away from composing any positive, happy descriptions in my work of literature."
Highly-acclaimed Swedish author and screenwriter Ulf Stark, who has written around 30 books for children and young adults, also shared his thoughts on children's literature.
He thinks that it's not a bad thing that children are confronted with the sense of fear, shame and loneliness; and they may value happiness and have passion for life more than anyone else.
Also at the Salon, the China Children's Press and Publication Group has announced it will publish Ulf Stark's two novels, Can You Whistle, Johanna? and The Sister from the Sea in 2017.
