Professor Zhang Li and her team from the School of Literature at Beijing Normal University have been working for five years to select 20 short stories and essays that best represent contemporary creative achievements from the massive number of literary works published each year. The "Annual Selection Series" has become an iconic brand in the industry and an important window for readers to understand the literary achievements of that year. Book cover. The book sharing event for "Wake Up at Noon: 20 Short Stories in 2023" and "Jasmine as a Distant Guest: 20 Contemporary Prose in 2023", hosted by Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House, was recently held in Beijing. Professor Zhang Li, along with 10 writers including Xu Zechen, Qiao Ye, Lu Min, Han Haoyue, Li Tang, Du Li, Ma Yi, Liang Hao, Jiang Zai, and Jiao Dian, shared the charm of literature with readers on the theme of "The Charm of Irregular Writing: Why Literature fascinates people?". The original intention of my annual selection is to present the rich style of contemporary Chinese literature. There are too many works published and published every year, and annual selection can help readers save time and see the works of the best short story writers and prose writers of this era Zhang Li said. She believes that an important dimension of chronological selection is not only to record life at that time, but also to have a mirror like feeling to today, which is to resonate with the times. The annual election needs to reflect the different ranks of contemporary Chinese writers and their views on the same issue. Therefore, the authors of the selected works include famous writers such as Dongxi and Deng Yiguang, as well as 5 to 6 spots for young writers. "To collect the most classic voices of this era, we also need to collect the latest and cutting-edge voices." Zhang Li said that diversity points to an openness towards the future. "My selection is aimed at the future and young readers, which is one of the reasons why this annual selection continues to be popular among readers." Editor in chief Zhang Li (first from the left) and the editorial team. In the preface written by Zhang Li for "Wake Up at Noon: 20 Short Stories in 2023", the "halo" in the short stories is analyzed. Writer Qiao Ye likes the term "halo". "How to understand halo? The core of short stories is not large, just like an electric light. The glowing body inside is not large, but the light needs to spread out, just like a stone thrown into water constantly rippling, ripples can be infinitely large.". Writer Xu Zechen stated that both good literary works and good literary selections have foresight. For the selection, although the work itself is completed in the past, when the editor's understanding is deep enough, the problems felt at this moment have time penetrating value. Jiao Dian, a writer born in 1996, was the youngest guest in this event. However, in the selection of Zhang Linian, her novel rainstorm Transit has shown the sophistication of a mature writer. "I will think that literature is not that fun either. There are too many fun things, why does literature still stay in the end?" Jiao Dian said, "I believe that a person can live well without literature. But if a person is not so good, at least they have some bad moments, which will inevitably think of literature. Those moments that may seem calm to others but have a great emotional impact on your heart are literary moments, and I will remember them." (Xinhua News Agency)