BEIJING – The Bookworm has announced the launch of the China Bookworm Press, an independent publishing venture that will publish contemporary fiction and non-fiction from China and make it available to a wider international audience in translation. The Press will be registered in Hong Kong with the goal of publishing overseas.

The Press will also run the China Bookworm Literary Award, an annual award for a previously unpublished novel by a Mainland Chinese writer. The entrants selected first, second and third will receive a cash prize of 5000RMB, 2500RMB, and 1000RMB respectively. In addition, the winning novel shall be translated into English and published by the China Bookworm Press.

The China Bookworm Press is part of the Bookworm group that runs independent bookstores and cafes in Beijing, Chengdu and Suzhou, and the annual China Bookworm Literary Festival which will celebrate its 9th year in 2015 (March 13-29).

Speaking today in Beijing, The Bookworm group’s general manager Peter Goff said: “We are very excited to be launching this publishing venture today. We feel this is a very natural fit with our bookstores in Beijing, Chengdu and Suzhou, and our annual literary festival and year-round literary events programme. There is an abundance of literary talent here and very strong traditions, and the press will aim to showcase the best of contemporary Chinese writing to international audiences.”

He added that through the literary festival and event programme, and the fact that the Bookworm is a founding member of the Word Alliance (www.wordalliance.org), an association that joins together eight of the world’s leading literary festivals, “we have been supporting and showcasing the work of Chinese writers for many years already. This publishing wing enables us to bring that support to a new level.”

The Bookworm also publishes Mala – the China Bookworm Literary Journal (www.mala-literary-journal.com), and is coordinating the Flash Europa 28 project in association with the Delegation of the European Union to China to bring creative short fiction from all 28 EU member states to the interested Chinese reader (www.flash-europa-28.org).

Full details for the China Bookworm Press and the China Bookworm Literary Award can be found on www.chinabookwormpress.com

For further information, contact press@chinabookworm.com