Award winner's books get film adaptations

Cao Wenxuan's novel "Iron Mark". [Photo/China.org.cn]

About two months after Cao Wenxuan's unprecedented success as the first Chinese writer to win the Hans Christian Andersen Prize, a biennale world renowned award for children's reading granted by Danish Queen Margrethe II, two of his novels — "Iron Mark" and "Bronze Sunflowers" will soon be adapted on the screen and in the theater respectively.

At a copyright symposium held on June 20 in Beijing, Cao said, "literary works are like atomic bombs, of which the explosion will bring us splendid scenarios. You can bring them to the theaters, to pictures, to the screen and to video games since they can be developed infinitely."

However, he also advised caution to his fellow literary creators, advising them not to be sensitive to the contemporary era, and be dedicated only to their writing.

After receiving the award, Cao has witnessed his novel "Iron Mark", a recent creation completed last year, selling 300,000 volumes.

The novel, which took Cao 10 years to finish, made its debut during the year that China commemorates its 70th Anniversary of Victory in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War.

The protagonist in the story is a horse who was rescued at young age from a group of wolves by a child named Powa. During the following chapters, when the Japanese invaders sweep the village and take the horse away from its rescuer and brand it with an iron mark, the horse feels indignant and humiliated. It refuses to offer rides for the Japanese military intruders so it is forced to do drudges by pulling gunner carts. In the end, he is again rescued and released by Powa, though his Iron Mark becomes perpetual stigma he harbors at the bottom of his heart.

Adaptations of literary works, particularly those published online like "To Youth" and "Grave Robbers' Chronicles" on the screen have given a boost to the franchise of those writings, making them thrive in the market, reported the Beijing Times.

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