Writing and Society Research Centre

Alexis Wright speaks at the China Australia Literary Forum on sovereignty of the mind

The Third China Australia Literary Forum

28-29 August 2015

The China Australia Literary Forum provides a rare and exciting opportunity for authors from the two countries to meet, exchange ideas and experiences and to develop a deeper understanding of our respective literary worlds.

A collaboration between the Chinese Writers Association and the Writing & Society Research Centre, UWS, the Third China Australia Literary Forum brings an eminent group of Chinese writers to Sydney to meet with an equally impressive group of Australian writers. This year's forum follows the success of the inaugural China Australia Literary Forum held in Sydney in 2011, and the second held in Beijing in April 2013.

The event forms part of a major research project being undertaken by the Writing and Society Research Centre in collaboration with the JM Coetzee Centre at the University of Adelaide, and the Monash Asia Institute at Monash University called 'Other Worlds: Reconceiving World Literature'. This project is being developed by a distinguished group of writers, scholars, translators and publishers: J M Coetzee, Alexis Wright, Ivor Indyk, Gail Jones, Nicholas Jose, Mridula Chakraborty, Chris Andrews, Ben Etherington and Anthony Uhlmann.

Five writers and literary scholars from China and five from Australia will each discuss one of the following questions, or some combination of them: What is the role and function of literature? How does literature imagine and engage with the world? How far is translation possible?

The dialogue that will emerge will help us to develop a better understanding of the nature of 'world literature'.

Anthony Macris on capitalism and alienation

Chinese Participants

Yu Hua,(opens in a new window) stationed author of Hangzhou Federation of Arts and Culture Circle, novelist. Read the feature article on Yu Hua,  'An Honest Writer Survives in China', on the New York Review of Books website.(opens in a new window)

Tie Ning, (opens in a new window) President China Writers Association, novelist

A Lai,(opens in a new window) President Sichuan Writers Association, novelist

Xu Kun,(opens in a new window) Deputy Editor-in-Chief of People's Literature, novelist

Yang Hongke, Professor of Shanxi Normal University, novelist

Chen Hong, Associate Professor East China Normal University

Australian Participants

Alexis Wright,(opens in a new window) novelist

John Tranter,(opens in a new window) poet

Fiona McFarlane,(opens in a new window) novelist

Tony Macris,(opens in a new window) novelist

Mohammed Ahmad,(opens in a new window) novelist