FCC club lunch with Dr. CHEN Xiwo

Speaker: Dr. CHEN Xiwo
Writer, litigant and scholar of comparative literature at Fuzhou Normal University
Topic: From the front lines in the battle against censorship

In June 2007, the Fuzhou office of China Customs intercepted the galley proof of author CHEN Xiwo’s book that had been mailed to him by his Taiwanese publisher. The collection of CHEN’s works was quickly deemed ‘prohibited’ because ini contained the novella I Love My Mum. CHEN launched a legal case against China Customs and an uproar exploded in the Chinese media at the absurdity of a writer having his own book confiscated. The scandal surrounding CHEN Xiwo’s novel I Love My Mum in many ways epitomizes a writing career characterized by a refusal to compromise.

CHEN Xiwo is one of contemporary China’s most acclaimed novelists and social critics. His novels are characterized by defiance and black humour. In 2001 CHEN won the Chinese Literature Media Prize, with My Dissipation.

如何成為不死的擋車螳螂
——活在中國出版審查制度下
講者: 作家、原告、比較文學博士陳希我

2007年6月，中華人民共和國福州海關扣押了台灣出版商寄給作家陳希我的繁體版作品樣書，理由是該書收入了其短篇小說《我愛我媽》，這篇小說在大陸屬被禁作品。陳希我於是將中國海關告上法庭。

作者作為郵件的接受方竟無權接收自己的作品。該事件之荒唐引起了媒體及讀者的廣泛關注。陳所採取的法律行動亦反映他為捍衛寫作自由而作出的努力，以及其拒絕妥協的態度。

陳希我是中國當代著名作家及社會評論人，作品風格大膽，充滿了黑色幽默。其小說集《我們的苟且》於2001年獲得華語文學傳媒大奬。