The best entries in the Chinese Writing Contest just published!

Of all the prizes offered for contestants who participated in the Chinese Writing Contest 2021, the coolest one should be to become a published author. This is a recognition with a far reaching effect.

With the newly published book, Easy-to-Read Chinese Short Stories, Book 1, seventeen contestants have won this bragging right. Their work is now available for a wide range of audiences worldwide.

Early in 2021, I invited Chinese learners from around the world to participate in the first Chinese Writing Contest. Entries were limited to using 320 unique Chinese characters. Beginner students were encouraged to compete with the advanced ones, and older students were encouraged to compete with the younger ones. A total of 82 submissions were received, seventeen of them ranked highest based on a public vote on Twitter. 

I was involved in the creation of this book. I know this was a time consuming job. So, huge thanks to Jeff Pepper from Imagin8 Press! He had been doing the major lifting and finally had this book done. 

This book includes very short stories, poems and a mini play. Each story is presented first in simplified Chinese, followed by versions in pinyin and English. Free audios are also available.

This is a nice book to read, well suited for beginner to advanced Chinese learners. Some entries are lyrical and simple, very easy to understand. Some entries use neat language techniques that require higher level readers with more Chinese training. 

This unevenness of the book makes reading it like listening to the radio, and you don’t know what the next song is going to be, and you don’t know whether or not you’re going to like it. I hope everyone will have something to take away from it.

Interested? Read a sample story here: Easy-to-Read Chinese Short Stories, Book 1.