Film student takes out inaugural digital writing contest

Two young contestants win the first prize in the first Literature Creation contest held by iReader. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

China's leading e-book brand, iReader has awarded its first Literature Creation contest prize to film student Jia Liyi for his martial arts fiction Dust in the wind (ChenFengzhi).

"Before I arrived tonight, I even thought about winning the competition, because everyone else is so competitive, with their creative thoughts and excellent writing skills." Jia Liyi said after the awards ceremony..

Jia studies at the Beijing Film Academy, majoring in film & television literature research.

He is a faithful reader of Jin Rong's novels for more than 20 years.

"I started to read his novels since junior high. His books possess a certain type of power that could be transformed into an addiction. For some novels, they might be high-end but fail to leave you any impression. As for others, they could be with you your entire life," he said.

Dust in the wind is not the first novel for Jia Dingli. His first work Big Man Sunday has been adapted into a 22-episode online drama on Sohu online TV attracting more than 83 million views.

"Literary classics merely mean those books that are remembered over time," iReader founder Zhang Lingyun said,

"We aim to provide a platform for more unknown would-be writers to create more popular and profound literary works. I hope in the future, there would be a book that changes people's lives, which is published by iReader."

About 37,000 novels have been submitted to iReader from more than 25 thousand readers, most of whom are studying.

Wang Liang, co-founder of iReader, told China Daily website that he saw great potential and talent among the contestants, while suggesting that the novelists-to-be need to spend more time reading classics and broaden their experience of society.