Writers in Residence out into the Community
By Li Ling and Zheng Wei
YANGSHUO, Oct. 19th —Nov. 4th , 2016
2016 SunYat-sen University Writers' Residency opened on Oct. 20. It ran till Nov. 5 when the group of 8 writers from 8 different countries moved to Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou. Writers spent most of their time writing. Every week, there was one cultural event.
Almost a week after the writers’ arrival from different parts of the world to Yangshuo, they paid a visit to Yangshuo Middle School and later the Mountain Song Fair which brought them a step closer to the local culture. At 9:30am, the writers arrived at Yangshuo Middle School, which was surrounded by beautiful mountains. In the classroom, the students listened attentively to the writers. When invited to ask questions and communicate with the writers, they resumed their vivacity--bursting into groups, rushing to the writer they were most interested in, and raising all kinds of questions ranging from “what’s your hobby” to “what do you think about the hegemony of the US government”. The writers answered each of the questions with patience and an open-heart. The in-depth and personal exchange of the communication was deeply beneficial to parties. The students got to use English in a natural environment and the writers got to share their expertise with the youth. And most importantly, everyone had great fun.
Tearing themselves away from the middle school, members of the residency next went to Yangshuo Park to attend the Mountain Song Fair, The highlight about mountain songs is that all the folk singers of the local Miao ethnic group? improvise lyrics and sing in unison within a very short time slot. The writers were absorbed in the singers’ creativity when Professor Dai interpreted the lyrics from the local dialect to English. Dutch writer Daan Heerma Van Voss even took notes recording every line of the songs. English poet George Szirtes picked up a theme and invited the singers to improvise lyrics on it. Australian writer Melinda Bobis, who is also a singer, sang along with one of them, even though she couldn’t speak Chinese. Indeed, there’s no boundary for art and creativity!
In the afternoon, the group arrived at the Guangxi Normal University in Guiling, whose students warmly welcomed the writers and took them for a campus tour. In the evening, Larissa Boehning from Germany, Daan Heerma Van Voss from Holland and Ravi Shankar from the US gave a reading of their writings to the students and faculty in the meeting room. After the reading, the students at Guangxi Normal University read their own composed English poetry as a thank-you for the writers.
On the evening of Monday, October 31, an impromptu Halloween costume party not only brought fun, but also revealed a side of the members that are normally concealed. Some dressed up as a cat-woman, others as a pirate, a clown or a local Chinese farmer, and some cross-dressed as the opposite sex. They danced to a variety of music, Western or Chinese, electronic dance music or Jazz, in the temporary ballroom.
On Friday, November 4, the writers and student helpers climbed the Xianggong Hill in Yangshuo County; the hilltop gave a magnificent view of the Li River winding through jagged peak and the stunning sea of clouds over the top of the mountains.
On the final the evening, five local artists gave a remarkable display of their own artistic abilities by demonstrating their skill in calligraphy. The writers were impressed by the elegant calligraphy, which was written in bold broad strokes as well as the Chinese painting of the Yangshuo Rivers and mountains up in a fan. The playwright Barbara Colio from Mexico joined the local artists and learned to write her Chinese name “野子. Many of the writers collaborated on a painting of their own .After the artists put a final touch to their calligraphy and painting, they gave their work to the writers as a gift of friendship and a souvenir to remember from in the years to come.
