Chinese sci-fi writer Hai Ya wins Hugo Award for Best Novelette

“The Space-Time Painter” by Chinese author Hai Ya won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette at the 81st World Science Fiction Convention held in Chengdu, China. This marked the third time a Chinese writer received the prestigious award, following Liu Cixin and Hao Jingfang. Hai drew inspiration from the life of Chinese painter Wang Ximeng, who created the renowned landscape painting “One Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains” during the Northern Song period. The story combines elements of Chinese culture, history, deduction, and science fiction, focusing on the political power struggles of that era. Hai explained that his interest was sparked by a program called ‘National Treasure Archive,’ which detailed Wang Ximeng’s life.

The painter’s mysterious disappearance in history prompted Hai to explore this concept with a sci-fi twist. Despite being a financial worker, Hai considers himself more of a sci-fi enthusiast than a writer. He emphasized the importance of passion and dedication in his writing process, even with limited daily writing time. He believes that historical sci-fi, though a smaller category, holds its own unique significance alongside other sub-genres like hard sci-fi and engineering sci-fi. The Hugo Awards are considered the highest honors in science fiction and have been presented annually since 1955. They are determined by members of the World Science Fiction Convention, which also oversees the awards. The 81st WorldCon marked the first time this renowned global sci-fi gathering took place in China.

Source – CGTN