The Olympic torch relays and the roller-coasting stock market have quietly replaced the earthquake of May 2008 in the Chinese news. But it has not been forgotten. In a recent report, the chairwoman of the Chinese Writers’ Association, Tie Ning, called on all Chinese writers to “pick up their pens” and write about the great war between Chinese people and the earthquake. According to the news, the Writers’ Association had organised two groups of writers to tour the areas hit by the quakes and to interview refugees; and these writers were said to have returned with assignments to produce reportage and novels “of depth and weight” that would soon be seen in print.
My first uneasy reaction was to a few quotations the chairwoman gave to the press. Accompanied by local officials on her visit, she said, she faced gratitude from the refugees, who kept thanking her for coming to see them. This left her in tears, the chairwoman said, and she decided that she would immediately start a new book focusing on the earthquake relief effort.
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