Books, bags and lots more fun

Started in 2011 as an important part of the annual fair, literary week has now evolved into a vital platform for cultural exchange and literary discussion among Chinese and international writers. Over the years, the event has hosted nearly 300 writers and scholars from around the world, including four Nobel Prize laureates in literature.

From laureates like France's Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clezio and Britain's V.S. Naipaul, to less well-known authors still struggling in their career, Yuan says that it was the authors' books, not their stardom or prestige, that won the heart of readers in Shanghai.

This year the main forum took place on Aug 13 at the China Securities Museum in Hongkou district with speeches by an array of international literary figures, featuring luminaries such as Angola's Jose Eduardo Agualusa, France's Christian Garcin, Russia's Eugene Vodolazkin, Japanese authors Kanae Minato and Mizuki Tsujimura, Spain's Andres Barba, Romanianborn Hungarian writer Attila Bartis, poet Forrest Gander and cartoonist Dan Nott from the United States, and a lineup of esteemed Chinese writers.

The fair's organizers also tried to find more creative ways to reach more readers, as proved by the long lines of people wanting to collect souvenir seals in front of different pavilions.

"I come every year," a retired woman surnamed Wang tells China Daily, as she waited in line to have a seal stamped in her note pad at the pavilion of People's Literature Publishing House.