Chengdu, China
Women writers stand out in the publishing industry. Science Fiction in ChinaAnd according to attendees at a major conference this week in Chengdu, its growing presence is one of the most significant trends of its kind.
The WorldConWorld Conference Science fiction The world’s oldest and most influential, celebrated for the first time Chinaattract A crowd of local fans.
- China It is still considered a relatively conservative country from a social point of view and, under the presidency of Xi Jinping, a space for the expression of feminism. Also reduced.
But in the field Science fictionThe number of women writers has increased in recent years Regina Ganyu WangThe writer and editor was nominated for two prestigious awards at this year’s Worldcon.
“More and more women are realizing that they can’t just put out a ‘nerdy’ or ‘geek’ style in science fiction. Liu Cixin is strong. But there’s so much more to Cixin’s style,” she describes.
The good news is that when women start writing, They don’t feel treated equallyWang says the market and readers are demanding new opportunities.
“There are many Chinese women writers now Science fiction They are interested in issues that women face and issues that men don’t necessarily realize“Zhu Danxue, an expert Literature de la universidad Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool.
“Women writers can use their own methods to reflect unique female sensibilities”Collaboration.
A wide and diverse audience
Four anthologies created exclusively by female or non-binary authors have been published in the past two years, an important step forward.
Previously, there weren’t even all-female collections, and before the 1990s there were very few women among the main authors.
One of Wang’s co-edited collections, “The Way Spring Arrives,” includes an essay showing that the Internet is fertile ground for the expression of female and gay talent.
Its widespread use is ““It not only brought about a new sense of community, but also removed commercial and social barriers to the creativity of non-male authors.”Author Ni Xueting details.
Chen Qiufan, one of the authors Science fiction Best known ChinaTraditionally the genre was not taken seriously and was considered “written and read by children”.
Today it has “A much wider and more diverse audience”He estimates the male-female distribution of his own readers to be about 50/50.
Monet, 21, who visited WorldCon on Friday, says she sometimes feels isolated in her fan community. “It’s hard to share my passions with people who don’t understand, and they wonder why a woman wants to Science fiction“Dice.
However, he remains optimistic and believes these attitudes can change.
“Interested in this Science fiction China “Having to be nurtured from childhood,” he assesses, “I don’t think we were lucky when we were young.”He insists.
