英国新锐文学之旅：城市•生活•文学

2010年11月11-15日

说起英国文学，很多读者的脑海中会立刻浮现出莎士比亚、狄更斯、简•奥斯汀、夏洛蒂•勃朗特、拜伦、雪莱这些传统文学大师的名字，而对英国当代文学却相对陌生。事实上，当今英国文坛比以往任何时候都欣欣向荣，小说、戏剧、散文、诗歌等各种文学类别都得到了繁荣和发展。

2010年11月，英国使馆文化教育特邀英国当代文坛三位新锐作家，柯斯达图书奖获奖者凯瑟琳‧奥弗林（Catherine O'Flynn）和拉斐尔‧塞尔伯恩（Raphael Selbourne）、星期日泰晤士报年度新作家大奖获得者罗斯‧瑞信（Ross Raisin）来华，为中国读者奉上一系列精彩的文学活动。此次三位英国作家将带着其处女作品，在广州、深圳、北京和天津举办四场文学活动，近距离与读者分享他们的文学创作之路和人生经历，幸运者有机会获得作家送出的签名著作！

活动安排：

1、广州行： 邂逅英伦文坛新力量——英国新锐文学作家交流讲座

时间：2010年11月11日（星期四）14:30-17:00

地点：广东外语外贸大学图书馆多功能报告厅（广州市白云区白云大道北2号）

2、深圳行：邂逅英伦文坛新力量——英国新锐文学作家书友交流会

时间：2010年11月12日（星期五）20:00-22:00

地点：深圳书城中心书城周五书友会多功能厅（福田区福中一路，地铁四号线少年宫站）

3、北京行：邂逅英伦文坛新力量——英国新锐文学作家交流会

时间：2010年11月14日（星期日）15:00-17:00

地点：北京单向街书店（朝阳区朝阳公园路6号院蓝色港湾11号楼rs-16号）

4、天津行：英国新锐文学作家讲座

时间：2010年11月15日（星期一）18：00-19：30

地点：天津外国语大学 (中国天津市河西区马场道117号)

英国新锐文学作家介绍

拉斐尔‧塞尔伯恩

Raphael Selbourne

处女作：《铿锵丽人(Beauty)》

“以纯正的原汁原味捕捉了城市里真实的人性。”——柯斯塔文学奖处女作奖项评委

拉斐尔出生在英国牛津一个显赫的书香世家，他在Sussex大学学习政治，随后前往意大利成为一名翻译。他曾经做过广告推销员及售卖小摩托车，更在中国当过老师。2004年开始定居英国西米德兰。在中断了伯明翰大学的伊斯兰研究学硕士课程后，他开始撰写小说Beauty《铿锵丽人》，讲述了一个孟加拉穆斯林女孩逃离强迫婚姻的故事，精准地描绘了一个富有同情心和挑战性的拥有多元文化的英格兰都市。该小说为他赢得了2009年英国柯斯达图书奖（Costa Book Awards）小说新作奖的殊荣。

凯瑟琳‧奥弗林

Catherine O'Flynn

处女作：《那些逝去的(What Was Lost)》

“做为一部处女作，《那些逝去的》写的十分精彩”——英国独立报

凯瑟琳出生于1970年，在伯明翰长大，在家里六个小孩中排名小幺，父母以经营着糖果店为生。凯瑟琳曾经当过记者，网站编辑，邮递员，还在多个购物中心打过工。2007年，凯瑟琳以自己成长的经历以及在唱片公司打工的际遇为线索，写下了其首部小说What Was Lost《那些逝去的》并获得了广泛的好评。该小说以生活在80年代中期一个失踪小女孩的热情与乐观向上，深刻揭露了现代人生活的无奈与空虚，因此获得了多项重要文学奖的提名，小说更在2008年的柯斯达图书奖（Costa Book Awards）上获得了金奖。凯瑟琳也获得了当年英国Galaxy文学大奖年度新人的称号。她的第二本作品The News Where You Are 2010年7月1日在伯明翰正式发行，并获得了一致的好口碑。

罗斯‧瑞信

Ross Raisin

处女作：《狂野的荒原(God's Own Country)》

“该书是语言学的盛宴，作者的自创词语让人忍俊不禁。”——英国卫报

罗斯‧瑞信1979年出生于约克郡的Keighley，在伦敦国王学院学习英国文学，并成为一名兼职的红酒吧经理。其后罗斯前往金史密斯学院攻读创意写作硕士学位。2008年，罗斯出版了他的处女作小说God's Own Country《狂野的荒原》，小说得到了广大好评，并分别获得了8个文学奖项的提名，获得了卫报首作奖与John Llewellyn Rhys文学奖的提名，并获得了Betty Trask处女文学奖及星期日泰晤士报“年度新作家大奖”。卫报评论人Justine Jordan称赞此作品让人“手不释卷”，罗斯目前在伦敦生活，正准备推出其第二本小说作品。

NEW WRITINGS FROM UK: CITY, LIFE AND LITERATURE

The Cultural and Education Section of the British Embassy warmly invites, three of the UK’s new writing authors, to visit China this November to present to Chinese readers a series of exciting literary activities.

British literature is currently in a particularly vibrant period with many energetic and innovative works filling and enriching the modern British literary scene. Ross Raisin, the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award 2009; Raphael Selbourne and Catherine O’Flynn, Costa Award winning novelists in recent years, as representatives of contemporary British literature writers will offer 4 literary activities in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing and Tianjin to share the living stories in their writing careers. Join us and you will have the chance to get a original copy of the novels signed by the writers.

Events:

1, Guangzhou：Dialogues with the Literature Rising Stars

Date：1430-1700, Friday, 11th November 2010

Venue：Multi-function Room, Library, Guangdong University of Foreign Study

2, Shenzhen：Dialogues with the Literature Rising Stars

Date：2000-2200, Friday, 12th November 2010

Venue：Multi-function Room, Friday Reader’s Club, Shenzhen Book City

3, Beijing: Dialogues with the Literature Rising Stars

Date：Sunday, 14th November 2010

Venue：OneWayStreet Bookstore

4, Tianjin：

Date: 18:00-19:30, Monday, 15th November 2010

Venue: Tianjin Foreign Studies University

New Writers from UK

Raphael Selbourne

First published book: Beauty

“Captures the raw humanity of inner city life with extraordinary authenticity”— Judges of the Costa First Novel Award

Born in Oxford within a distinguished academic family, Raphael Selbourne studied politics at Sussex University, before moving to Italy where he was a translator, sold TV advertising and scooters. He has also taught in China and since 2004 in the West Midlands, where he now lives. He interrupted an MA in Islamic Studies at Birmingham University to write Beauty, which describes a twenty-year-old Bangladeshi woman, back in England having disgraced her family by fleeing an abusive arranged marriage. Beauty is described as “a sharply rendered, compassionate and challenging portrait of a fragmented, multicultural urban England”, and won the 2009 Costa First Novel Award.

Catherine O'Flynn

First published book: What Was Lost

“Catherine O'Flynn's poignant first novel explores bereavement and loneliness, what it is to be invisible and what it takes to be found. Her prose is taut, and the story intricately plotted and compelling.” Francesca Segal, The Telegraph

Catherine O’Flynn was born in 1970 and raised in Birmingham, the youngest of six children. Her parents ran a sweet shop. She worked briefly in journalism, then at a series of shopping centres. She has also been a web editor, a postwoman and a mystery shopper. O’Flynn’s first novel, What Was Lost, drew on her experience of working in record stores – and of growing up as a child intrigued by clues, suspects and methods of detection. News Where You Are, her second novel, was released in July this year to much critical acclaim. She also edited Roads Ahead, Tindal Street Press’ 2009 anthology of young new writers.

Ross Raisin

First published book: God's Own Country

“… a joy to read for the dialect alone, a linguistic feast as chewy as parkin, full of beltengers and hubbleshoos, nimrods and charvers.”— Justine Jordan，Guardian

Ross Raisin was born in Yorkshire in 1979, near Bradford and Ilkley. He studied English at King’s College in London and worked for a time as co-manager of a wine bar. He studied for an MA in Creative Writing at Goldsmith’s University in London before his debut novel, God's Own Country, was bought in a hotly-contested auction by Viking Penguin. It was published to great critical acclaim in 2008 and Ross was shortlisted for 8 separate awards for the book, winning the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award 2009. He lives in London and is currently finishing his second novel.

（英国使馆文化教育处提供）