A Chinese magazine publisher is helping the country's contemporary literature reach a more diverse range of readers, according to a report by Mei Jia from China Daily.
The literary magazine called Pathlight, published in various languages and versions, has helped bring Chinese contemporary literature to the global literary scene.
One German version of Pathlight fell into the hands of Enrico Brandt, a cultural affairs officer at the German embassy in Beijing. Created by the editorial team of its parent magazine, People's Literature, Pathlight has helped Brandt appreciate Chinese literature more.
Pathlight has already been published in French, Italian, Russian and Japanese. According to Shi Zhanjun, the magazine's editor-in-chief, the team is currently looking into making seven additional versions in languages such as Korean, Spanish and Arabic. These versions are all published annually.
The evolution of Pathlight into a multilingual Chinese literary magazine was driven by "the many zealous invitations we got from the relevant countries," said Shi in an interview with China Daily.
"All we want to do through Pathlight is to share with the global audience how ordinary Chinese people nowadays might feel and react toward the world," said Shi, adding that "Chinese literature is about good stories and good language."
Before Pathlight gained prominence, it launched its English version in 2011. It's the first of the series of international editions, and was published quarterly with unique illustrations. Thanks to the magazine, the world now has access to contemporary Chinese literature.
"The form of a collection of short stories and poems are different than that of a novel," said Gong Yingxin, director of the German Book Office of Beijing of the Frankfurt Book Fair, in an interview with China Daily. "It gives more authors the opportunity to reach foreign readers, and at the same time, gives the readers a better overview of the current literature landscape in China."