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Taiwan novelist Kan Yao-ming wins Dream of the Red Chamber Award

30 Nov 2022

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Taiwan novelist Mr Kan Yao-ming receives the first prize of the 9th Dream of the Red Chamber Award.
Dr Clement Chen, Chairman of the Council and the Court (right), presented the award to Mr Kan.
The winning work "Becoming Bunun".

 

On 25 November 2022, Taiwan novelist Mr Kan Yao-ming received the first prize of the 9th Dream of the Red Chamber Award presented by HKBU. He was honoured for his novel Becoming Bunun.

At the prize presentation ceremony, Mr Kan expressed his gratitude upon receiving the award, and voiced his pleasure in visiting Hong Kong to pay his respects to the graveyard of Australian Sergeant A. A. James, a real-life historical figure portrayed in Becoming Bunun. He said: “The island represents realism for literature, while the surrounding ocean can be regarded as fiction. The fusion of realism and fiction constitutes the churning of waves on the coastline, the vast mist extending from the land to the sea, and the nourishment of the sea breeze blowing to the land. They are all as one. From a higher perspective, Taiwan and Hong Kong are also nearby islands connected by the ocean. I would like to dedicate the award-winning novel Becoming Bunun, a historical story about life and growth, to the beauty of Hong Kong.” Following the ceremony, Mr Kan detailed aspects of his writer’s journey during the talk “Writers in Dialogue”.

Born in Taiwan, Mr Kan is a globally recognised author whose works are held in high esteem. His winning work Becoming Bunun has received numerous literary awards since its publication last year (2021). A full-time writer, he has written a number of other award-winning novels, including Mysterious Train (2003), The School of Water-ghosts and the Otter Who Lost His Mother (2005), Killing Ghosts (2009), Story of a Funeral (2010), The Girl and the Woodcutter (2015), The Summer General Winter Came (2017) and a series of educational books co-authored with Mr Li Chong-jian.

The Dream of the Red Chamber Award is held biennially by the Faculty of Arts at HKBU. Sponsored by Mr Zhang Dapeng, President of Y. Cee Chemicals Limited, the Award aims to encourage the publication of excellent Chinese novels, recognise outstanding Chinese novels by writers from around the world, and enhance the standard of Chinese novel-writing.