中国作家第一次获得2016年“国际安徒生奖”

Chinese children’s fiction writer Cao Wenxuan on Monday won the Hans Christian Andersen Prize 2016 at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair in Italy, the first Chinese writer to ever win and be shortlisted in the highest international recognition given to an author and an illustrator of children’s books.

4月4日，在第53届博洛尼亚儿童书展开幕日当天公布了2016年度“国际安徒生奖”获奖者名单。最终，来自中国的儿童文学作家曹文轩这一世界儿童文学领域的至高荣誉，实现了华人在该奖上零的突破！

"The unanimous choice of the jury, Cao writes beautifully about the complex lives of children facing great challenges," said Patricia Aldana, the Hans Christian Andersen Jury President 2016, announcing the winner of the prize’s author award.

在公布得奖获得者时，国际安徒生奖评委会主席帕奇·亚当娜评价， “曹文轩用诗意如水的笔触，描写了孩子们面临巨大挑战时的复杂生活，给他颁发此奖，是评委会一致的选择”。

She cited Cao’s Bronze and Sunflower, a novel set during the time of the Cultural Revolution in a rural Chinese village, and Dingding Dangdang series about two brothers with Down syndrome who separately flee their village and then search for each other, as "deeply humanistic" books, because they acknowledge that life can often be tragic also for children, who nonetheless can be redeemed by the human qualities and kindness they sometimes find when they are most in need.

她称曹文轩的《青铜葵花》（该作品的背景是文化大革命时期的中国农村）和《丁丁当当系列》（该作品讲述了一对傻子兄弟走散后互相寻找彼此的经历）这两部作品 “极富人性化”，因为它们认识到，孩子们的生活也很有可能是一场悲剧，尽管如此，在他们在最困难的时候，有时候会发现，人性的善良会将他们赎回。

"Cao is a great example of how writing wonderful prose and telling stories about brave children facing tremendous difficulties and challenges can attract a very wide and committed child readership as well as helping to shape a literary tradition in China that honors the realities of children’s worlds," Aldana highlighted.

“曹文轩写得的散文诗精彩绝伦，是非常好的范例。他的故事，讲述了勇敢的孩子们直面困难和挑战，这吸引了广大读者，也有助于塑造注重书写儿童现实世界的中国文学传统，”亚当娜强调说。

Born in 1954 in a small rural village in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, Cao spent his childhood in poverty. He nonetheless was able to study at Peking University and is now a professor of Chinese literature and children’s literature.

曹文轩于1954年出生于江苏盐城的一个小乡村。他的童年是在贫穷中度过的。然而，他成功地进入了北京大学学习，目前已经是中国文学和儿童文学的教授。

When people achieve something, it is because they have a background, Cao told Xinhua soon after his award’s announcement.

在获奖结果公布后，曹文轩告诉新华社，当人们有所成就的时候，是因为他们有一定的背景。

"And my background is China," he highlighted.

“而我的背景是中国，”他强调说。

"All of my stories are set in China, all of them are Chinese stories, but at the same time they are the stories of humankind," he said.

“我所有的故事都是以中国为背景的，都是中国人的故事，但同时也是人类的故事，”他说。

Recently Cao’s books have been making their way into the world and have found enthusiastic readers in Britain, France, Germany and Italy.

最近，曹的书籍已经传播到世界，在英国、法国、德国和意大利都有他的热心读者。

Cao wished that the world will increasingly look at China’s literature with a more fair and open attitude, and that Chinese authors will make an effort to use a language that is suitable for translation, a communication style that can be understood by the entire world.

曹希望世界越来越多的人以更加公平和开放的态度来看中国文学，也希望中国作家尽量使用适合翻译的语言，这样的交流方式能为全世界所理解。

His understanding of children’s literature is "creating a good human nature basis for the sake of humankind," Cao told Xinhua.

他对儿童文学的理解是“为人类创造良好的人性基础”，曹对新华社记者说。

Literature has a fundamental artistic value, he stressed, and Monday’s prize has confirmed that Chinese children’s literature has a high place in the world.

他强调，文学有着根本的艺术价值。曹的获奖证明了中国儿童文学在世界上占有重要地位。

"There will certainly be other Chinese authors who will win the Hans Christian Andersen Prize in the future," he concluded.

“未来肯定会有其他中国作家获得国际安徒生奖，”他总结道。

German illustrator Sonja Danowski has drawn the pictures for Cao’s "Grass Hut", a novel which mirrors the memorable years of a boy’s primary school life amid deeply moving and profoundly touching events.

德国插画家索尼娅·达诺夫斯基为曹文轩的《草房子》创作了插画，《草房子》讲述了一个男孩终身难忘的小学六年时光，有着催人泪下、打动人心的故事。

"I met Cao two years ago here in Bologna, he saw my works and liked the style, because he likes a realistic interpretation of stories, and so he thought that my style could be suitable for his books. He suggested me as his illustrator and I felt really honored," she told Xinhua.

“两年前，我在博洛尼亚遇见了曹，他看了我的作品，很喜欢我的风格，因为他喜欢真实演绎的故事，所以他认为我的风格可能会适合他的书。于是他建议我为他的作品画插画，对此我深感荣幸，“她告诉记者。

"When the editor sent me the English translation of Grass Hut, I read it and I immediately knew that I wanted to draw the pictures, because during reading I already had them in my head ... It was very inspiring, I love the Chinese mood, it is amazing how those written words can stimulate the imagination," she added.

“当编辑给我发了《草房子》的英译本后，读后我立刻就知道我要画的是什么样的图片，因为当我在看这本书时，我的脑海里已经有了图片的样子。……这是非常鼓舞人心的，我爱中国的意境，这些文字可以激发无穷的想象力，真的很神奇，”她补充说。

Danowski defined Cao as "a master in describing characters and the nature, plants and animals surrounding them."

达诺夫斯称曹为“描写人物与自然，植物与动物的大师。”

She observed that there is a "special sensitivity about the human spirit" in Chinese stories which she said are deeply "human and full of respect."

她指出，在中国故事中，“对人文精神有着敏锐的洞察力”，她认为这就是深刻的“人性与充分的尊重。”

What made her feel especially "surprised and honored" in collaborating with Cao was "the total freedom that he let me to do my own."

“他让我完全自由地做我的工作”让她觉得与曹的合作特别“惊讶和荣幸”。

"He just told me ’I rely on you, make what you want,’ he had faith in me and this is the best condition for an illustrator, because only with the freedom you can really work on your own feelings, and then bring them to the book," she said.

“他只是告诉我‘我相信你，画你想画的，”他对我很有信心，这对于一个插画家来说是最佳状态，因为只有拥有自由，你才可以随心工作，然后把它们带进书中，“她说。