Macau was for centuries fertile ground for literary creation. Through here many have passed – and written about this place – different men and women. The short story competition that is now present intends to help revitalize the act of writing about Macau – in Chinese, Portuguese and English.

The Script Road short story competition will accept works in three languages and the final jury will consist of the writers Su Tong (Chinese), José Luís Peixoto (Portuguese) and Xu Xi (English). They will be the ones to decide who the winners are.

1. Addressees:
a) The competition is addressed to all people without any constraints of age, nationality or residence.
b) The immediate families of members of the organization and members of the jury cannot compete, nor can any persons connected with newspaper Ponto Final, the Sociedade de Artes e Letras and the organization of The Script Road festival.

2. Presentation of the stories
a) All stories must have Macau as a backdrop, as the theme. They should, in some way, be about Macau.
b) Each entrant may submit up to two stories maximum. Entries must be original and may be in Chinese, Portuguese or English.
c) The text should have a maximum of five thousand words in Portuguese and English, and ten thousand words in Chinese.

3. Deadline and submission
a) The competition stories should be delivered at the premises of the newspaper Ponto Final (Avenida do Infante D. Henrique, No. 43-53A, Macau Square Building, 13K,) up to 20h of the day May 31, 2012.
b) The works sent by mail must bear the stamp with a dispatch date before May 31, 2012.
c) Projects must be delivered in a sealed envelope containing the inscription on the outside “The Script Road story competition.”
d) Participants should place four copies of each story on A4 paper inside the envelope. The text should be formatted in 12-point, 1.5line spacing and Arial font, in the case of short stories in English and Portuguese, and SimSun in the case of the stories in Chinese. Entrants must also include in the envelope a photocopy of any identification document.

4. Competition Jury
a) The jury will initially consist of a group of people invited by the organization of the Script Road and by members of the festival organizers. There will be a jury for the competition in each of the languages. This committee will make a first pre-selection of five texts, which are then to be put forward for consideration by the final jury. Su Tong (Chinese), José Luís Peixoto (Portuguese) and Xu Xi (English) are the three writers who will select the winners.
b) The jury reserves the right not to award any winner if the work submitted does not have the desired quality or is not in accordance with the scope and theme of the contest.

5. Award
a) The winning stories (one in each language) will be translated into other languages and published in a book to be presented at the next edition of The Script Road. The book, with editions in Chinese, Portuguese and English, will bring together the tales of Macau written by authors invited to the first edition of the festival. The winners will, in this way, see their published works alongside names of the jury writers themselves and other names such as Jade Y. Chen and José Rodrigues dos Santos.

6. Final Considerations
a) Participation in the competition implies full acceptance of this regulation.
b) All information is available at www.rotadasletras.org
c) Entries in the contest will not be returned to their authors.
d) The Script Road reserves the right to publish, in the original and translated versions, the distinguished work in the competition. The copyright for the first publication (in periodical publications and book) belongs to the editor and the subsequent to the respective authors.

On the third day of the literary festival, a group of fours writers from Portugal, Hong Kong, China and Macau were challenged to say if writing these days could still be a political tool.
Portuguese best-selling author and journalist José Rodrigues dos Santos, who wrote among other works “The Wrath of God”, which deals with Islamism and extremism, has no doubt that “all art is political in a way, and all art has to be meaningful”, he defended.

An experienced reporter who covered many war zones from Iraq to Libya, author dos Santos claimed that as a novelist, he feels “more truthful when you write a novel,” as he is not restrained by the journalistic codes of delivering news. “Fiction is a very powerful tool to tell the truth,” he stated, adding that “writing is about freedom, and you have to say politically incorrect things to move things forwards.

Chinese author Jimmy Qi agreed and underlined that the writer “can be very political but it’s not a politician.” Qi’s opinion goes in fact further, defending that writers are in fact more important than politicians as their words resist the test of times. “. Without the writing of the bible, where would God be? And where would Confucius be?

In this sense, Macau’s writer and artist António Conceição Junior, who recently published “Conversas do Chá e do Café” (Tea and Coffee chats) “words are sacred and when we profit from someone’s’ knowledge, we are reliving the authors experience and benefiting from it.” That is why he sees the man as a political animal, who must act as political. “I cannot understand art for the sake of art. It always serves a purpose. The writer has like an agenda – which gives him the urge to write, to communicate,” he added.

This debate was concluded with the poignant testimonies of 87 years old Marvin Farkas, an American living in Hong Kong since 1954. This man of many lives was a Broadway star before coming to Hong Kong where he was filmmaker, working with stars like Orson Well,s and later a regional and war reporter, spending 12 years covering the Vietnam war. “I started to write at the age of 77 so I can speak my mind freely,” he said during the presentation of his memoirs “an Eastern Saga.”

The afternoon of this Tuesday was dedicated to the topic “Translation: limits and Possibilities.” Macau academic Yao Jin Ming, author of poetry and Chinese translator of Portuguese poet Eugénio de Andrade, stated that before the act of translating, “translators have to fall in love for the work. It’s a love process.” “Then, they will be able to translate,” he added.

Prestigious writer Su Tong, author of “Rice” , “My Life as an Emperor,” and “Wives and Concubines”, with many of his books translated in different languages, described the translator as “a friend.” “When I do not understand a foreign language, I have to have a translator. He is therefore a friend and authors should respect him,” he said.

Writer José Luis Peixoto, one of the most translated Portuguese authors in no less than 20 idioms, alerted for the risks of distortion of the original work that translation could cause. But these changes can also operate in favour of some books. “I read (Brazilian author) Paulo Coelho and was not impressed. But people tell me that his books in French are quite good,” he said with a smile.

Asked about the language policy in Macau after the handover, the director of the Portuguese Oriental Institute, Rui Rocha explained that despite the official bilingual status of the territory, the reality showed that the Portuguese is not compulsory at Chinese schools and that the learning of Mandarin is also problematic in Portuguese ones. “That’s the state of the affairs,” he added.

The third day was also dedicated to two documentaries dealing with the plight of Chinese migrants in the world. Mozambican journalist and filmmaker Yara Costa presented “Why are they here? Chinese stories in Africa”, a film taking place in Mozambique island, Lesotho and Ghana, showing the relationships and tensions of Chinese immigrants with local populations.
Last, but not least, filmmaker Ivo Ferreira showcased his 2009 documentary “Go with the Wind”, about the emotional dilemma of Chinese immigrants in Portugal and Spain and the home they left behind.

To wrap up Tuesday, famous Portuguese fado singer Aldina Duarte gave a concert at the University of Macau, where she paid tribute to Fado, the Portuguese traditional song, which was recently recognized by UNESCO as intangible heritage of humanity.

The Script Road, the first ever Literary Festival organized in the Special Administrative Region of Macau, started this Sunday with Lusophone writers asking for a new beginning in the relationship between the Portuguese speaking countries and China.

“I think this initiative of inviting lusophone writers to Macau has to be echoed somehow in Brazil. I will make a point to do that. We have to exchange more than iron, petrol and soya with China,” said Brazilian writer João Paulo Cuenca, during the first session of the festival, entitled “Portuguese-speaking countries and China: A Romance” (Portuguese word with double meaning: romantic liaison and novel).

The idea was supported by the Portuguese writer and journalist Rui Cardoso Martins, who defended that “the new relationship between East and West has to be based on words.” “It’s good to arrive from Portugal where everyone speaks about nothing but the crisis, to Macau, where the money seems to go up in the sky.”

Portuguese awarded journalist and best-selling writer José Rodrigues dos Santos reminded the audience that the current Chinese economic prowess led to the recent acquisition of the Portuguese Electric Group EDP, “the first relevant Chinese deal in Europe, not surprisingly in Portugal”, the first Western country to established a solid relationship with China, he added.
“The Chinese language is great, with many millions speaking it, but the Portuguese language is also great, because is our motherland is our language (like Portuguese Poet Fernando Pessoa said), then we are all Brazilians, Cape-Verdeans, Mozambicans and Macanese,” dos Santos stressed.

Mozambican filmmaker Yara Costa, who recently produced a documentary about Chinese immigrants living in Africa, explained that beyond all the Chinese investment on infrastructures, which is welcomed by African governments, there’s a deep misunderstanding (based on stereotypes), between the local population and the immigrants. “The Mozambicans think for instance that many Chinese newcomers are ex-prisoners looking for a new break whereas the Chinese immigrants are convinced that Mozambicans carry the HIV virus and should therefore never approach them more than necessary,” she revealed.

Literature can therefore break prejudices, open new doors and create links. 2009 Man Asian Literary prize Su Tong explained how the reading of late Portuguese Nobel Laureate José Saramago awakened in him “an emotional attachment to Portugal, a country that I never visited and yet, I long for it.”

The weeklong festival, which ends on February 4th, includes debates, workshops, movie screenings, art exhibitions and musical shows. But the literary debate is king. “The objective of the literary festival is to reignite the pleasure of reading and writing and I am sure that many in Macau will be inspired by these visiting authors,” said the director of the Script Road, Ricardo Pinto.

The festival started in fact with a master class and workshop led by Hong Kong writer Xu Xi. The author also presented her latest novel, “Habit of a Foreign Sky,” which was shortlisted for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize.

Starting from today and until next Friday, Polytechnic Institute will be stage for a series of talks on literature, the act of writing for several supports and the relation between East and West. Please check bellow the guests that will be participating in each one of the sessions.

JAN 29
15h China and the Portuguese Speaking Countries – A Romance (preceded by the festival’s official opening ceremony)
Moderator: José Rodrigues dos Santosz
Panel: João Paulo Cuenca, Yara Costa, Jade Y. Chen, Su Tong, Rui Cardoso Martins

JAN 30
11h East and West: attracted imaginaries?
Moderator: Xu Xi
Panel: Paulo Aido, Lolita Hu, Miguel Gonçalves Mendes, Ivo Ferreira

15h30 Inspiration: myth or reality?
Moderator: Carlos Marreiros
Panel: Yara Costa, José Luís Peixoto, Tatiana Salem Levy, Carlos Morais José, Jimmy Qi

JAN 31
11h Can writing still be political?
Moderator: Frederico Rato
Panel: José Rodrigues dos Santos, Paulo Aido, Jimmy Qi, Marvin Farkas, António Conceição Júnior

14h30 Translation: limits and possibilities
Moderator: Yao Jin Ming
Panel: Lolita Hu, José Luís Peixoto, Rui Rocha, Su Tong

FEB 1
11h The challenges of publishing in Macau
Moderator: Maria Antónia Espadinha
Panel: Carlos Morais José, Luís Ortet, Rogério Beltrão Coelho, Ana Paula Dias, Cultural Institute Representative, Macau Fundation Representative

FEB 2
11h The Geography of Writing
Moderator: João Paulo Cuenca
Panel: Rui Cardoso Martins, Tatiana Salem Levy, Harriet Wong, Tony Aires, Paulo Aido

FEB 3
15h30 How much is a historical novel worth?
Moderator: Ana Paula Dias
Panel: José Rodrigues dos Santos, Tong Mui Sui, Joe Tang, Jade Y. Chen

The Script Road did not forget the book lovers and decided to open a book fair in the lobby of the Macau Polytechnic Institute. Visitors will have the opportunity to buy works by most authors in attendance – an effort is being made to have all the books (in Portuguese, Chinese and English) available.

The book fair, the responsibility of the Portuguese Bookshop, will also serve as an opportunity for publishers and local authors to make their books available. Is this also a good opportunity to find rare published issues in Macau, issues that are not easily accessible to the public nowadays.

The book fair, which will run throughout the festival, will also be hosting exciting events such as book launches and book signings. Several authors, among guests and locals, will also be present.

The creative writing workshop with author Xu Xi, from Hong Kong, is scheduled for 11 am on Sunday 29, at the Polytechnic Institute, before the official opening session of the festival. Admission is free but anyone interested can pre-register by sending an email with name and contact to workshop@thescriptroad.org

The author will lead the session in English and will also present her new book ,”Access – Thirteen Tales”, on the afternoon (5pm). This is a great opportunity for anyone interested in writing fiction, and all lovers of words and literature in general.