German Book Information Center, in collaboration with the Cultural and Education Section of German Embassy in China and Goethe Institute in China, sponsored the first German-Chinese Translation (of Children's Books) Award Ceremony in Beijing on December 4. Prof. Mo Guanghua of SFL won the Prize of Excellence with his translation of the German picture book "A Loner I Am" written by Christine nie Stringer and illustrated by Janosch.
 

    The Translation Award was launched in August this year, with more than one hundred and fifty books or series of books submitted by nearly fifty publishers or translators. The prize jury consisted of an experts jury made up of four professionals, editors or translators highly proficient in German and children's literature, and an institutional jury made up of three representatives respectively from German embassy in China, Goethe institute and German Book Information Center. Sixteen entrants were put in the long list after a 3-month primary review, and six entrants finally earned their positions in the short list with one top prize and five prizes of excellence.

    The biennial award is also supported by German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Frankfurt Book Fair. In the coming year, the Book Information centre will launch a series of promotion activities for the long-listed books. Both the awarded and the nominated books will be put on various international and domestic book tours.

    The orginal book of Prof. Mo's prizewinning translation is a beautifully illustrated picture book by the prestigious Austrian writer Christine nie Stringer and the wellknown German illustrator Janosch. It tells the story of a man's spontaneous roaming life, with humanity shining through his persistent pursuit for freedom, naturalness and independence. Ideal children's books Prof. Mo prefers are those not only for children but also for young parents and will-be parents, those that enlighten the parents for an abundant life, and those that enable the parents to willingly accompany their children to read. "A Loner I Am" is such a book.

    Over the years, in addition to teaching and research, Prof. Mo has been a diligent and prolific translator of German literature, academic and children's books (which amount up to more than two million words). Being a professor in German language and literature, He is making an extraordinary contributon to the cultural exchange between China and Germany. He and his team, with their "Studies on Goethe and the Chinese translation of his works", successfully applied the first major project supported by the national social science fundation last year. The proper translation award in addition to the national project not only manifests Prof. Mo's devotion and achievements but earns social recognition for the development of arts diciplines in SWJTU.