Establishment marks chapter of success

The Writers Publishing House recently celebrated the 70th anniversary of its founding.

"The 70 years of the publishing house correspond to the progress and development of the socialist revolution, construction and reform," Zhang Hongsen, Party secretary of the China Writers Association that oversees the publishing house, said at a symposium to review its achievement and future outlook in Beijing on Nov 30.

In the 1950s and '60s, not long after its establishment, it launched works including Qu Bo's Tracks in the Snowy Forest, Yang Mo's Song of Youth, and Wildfire and Spring Wind Fighting in the Ancient City written by Li Yingru.

Sun Yeli, deputy director of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said these household, motivating full-length novels have inspired Chinese people to stand up for themselves and work hard.

They constitute an important chapter of contemporary revolution-themed literature classics.

Over the past decade, the publishing house has also released works that vividly record the great changes of the time, the poverty alleviation effort, as well as the fruitful Belt and Road Initiative, he added.

Bao Jian, head of the publishing house, said his colleagues have touched upon topics around the homeland and the times and been dedicated to seeking the roots of the modern Chinese civilization, depicting the great new era and conveying the dreams of ordinary people.

According to him, the publishing house is increasing financial support for young, emerging and grassroots writers.

Wang Shuli, a retired editor, recalled more than 30 years working at the publishing house, how it put an emphasis on supporting emerging, young authors and publishing works of foreign writers since the 1980s, and how it took the lead in introducing market-oriented reform and performance assessment system in the 1990s.

In her career, Wang maintained over two decades' cooperation with Shanghai-based writer and scholar Yu Qiuyu, whose bestsellers include A Bittersweet Journey Through Culture. Wang said Yu was initially attracted to the Beijing publishing house's market-oriented operation and its respect for writers.

She also mentioned the portfolios of the "New Concept" writing competitions, through which bestselling post-'80s writers like Han Han, Guo Jingming and Zhang Yueran stood out, rose to fame and set off a craze for youth literature in the 2000s.

In 2000, Wang discovered the potential of children's literature and the lack of original works in the domestic market. She then promoted A Girl's Diary by Yang Hongying, which, by applying a first-person perspective, depicts the growth of a girl from childhood to teenage years.

They sold 10,000 copies of the novel in three days. In the following two decades, Yang Hongying's campus novels and fairy tales sold tens of millions of copies.

Renowned writer Wang Meng, 89, expressed gratitude for and remembrance of a group of friends and partners who worked for the publishing house but have passed away.

He suggested the publishing house release more works that reflect life of rural areas, or around topics like the industrialization, technological development, the BRI, as well as building a community with a shared future for mankind.

Paying tribute to the elder generation of writers and editors, the publishing house also republished some selected works that were published in its early days, and launched a new hardback series of them at the symposium.