Education sector

Lletres Xineses: A Contest for Young Readers in Barcelona to Discover Chinese Literature and Culture

DigiTrans China, with the funding of Fundació Institut Confuci de Barcelona and in collaboration with the Catalan Government’s Department of Education, the City Council of Barcelona, Eix Fort Pienc and Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), launched Concursos Lletres Xineses, two contests seeking to promote the engagement of young readers in the Barcelona area with Chinese literature and culture.

A call was published via the contest’s official website (in Catalan) for primary and secondary schoools in the province of Barcelona to invite their students to create drawings, short stories and booktrailers related to Chinese legends and literary works.

In the case of primary school students, the contest Descobreix Lletres Xineses (Discover Chinese Literature) presented students with two traditional Chinese folk tales written and illustrated by Barcelona-based author Liao Yanping, “The Monkeys and the Chestnuts” and “The Dragon Fish”. We also created infographics to help students go through the content and cultural implications of the tales. We received a total of 408 submissions (including drawings and short stories) from 8 different schools and institutions.

For secondary school students, the selected text was “Nit de por al desert” (A Frightening Night at the Desert) by Sanmao. In this case, students were invited to read Sanmao’s narration and produce a booktrailer about its content and the lessons they drew from it. In total, we received 28 booktrailers from 5 schools and institutions.

In order to provide participant students with more information about their subject, a talk was organized with Sara Rovira-Esteva and Mireia Vargas Urpí, translators and experts in the work of Sanmao, moderated by Maialen Marin-Lacarta, translator and PR of the DigiTrans project. This talk took place at the Arús Public Library (Barcelona) on November 29.

We received a total of 408 participations. A jury made up of professionals from the areas of Chinese language and culture, graphic design, and intercultural communication selected the winners, who were announced on the 23rd April 2023, on the International Book Day.

Two awarding ceremonies for primary and secondary school prizes were held publicly on May 31 and June 1, respectively, at the auditorium of Ateneu Fort Pienc cultural center in central Barcelona.

The prizes were awarded by representatives of the supporting institutions: Li Peihua and Lídia Tubert, from Fundació Institut Confuci de Barcelona; Begoña Ruiz de Infante, from the mediation services of the Barcelona City Council; Carlos del Río, from Eix Fort Pienc; Isabel Pallejà, from Barcelona’s City Council, Maialen Marin-Lacarta and Ester Torres-Simón from DigiTrans.

Meanwhile, a selection of works was publicly exhibited at the hall of the Ateneu Fort Pienc.