Treat for readers of Miles Franklin winners

The Chinese translations of 10 Miles Franklin Award-winning novels have just been launched, bringing readers some of the best contemporary work and offering deep insights into Australian society.

"We chose them to promote a kind of cultural dialogue, between China and Australia, because Chinese people get to know Australian culture mainly through the popular novel, The Thorn Birds, which we think is not enough," says Professor Wang Guanglin, director of the Australian Studies Center at the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade. The Australian Literary Translation Project, which commenced in 2007, is a joint initiative of the Australian Consulate-General in Shanghai and the center.

At a luncheon event held at the Australian Pavilion at Shanghai World Expo on Oct 26 to mark the completion of the project, Wang also talked about the challenges of his center embarking upon such a huge undertaking, and the significance of this project to translated Australian literature in China.