Why Believe in the Power of Literature?: 45 Selections from "Passing the Pen, Voicing Through Creation"

Writing that cares for the land and the nation, brave and gentle

45 creators, 45 works
Feature introduction + literary creation + in-depth report
Documenting this carnival of free writing, and also reflecting the response of Taiwanese literary figures to the times.

The largest gathering of literary creators in Taiwan's history,
Let Taiwan continue to be a place where one can write freely.

It took Taiwanese literature thirty years to heal the internal wounds of martial law,
In the past decade, it has been full of vitality, with diverse writing blossoming at multiple points, even garnering international attention.

Shortlisted for the British Booker International Prize, selected as one of the top ten best books of the year by the American "Library Journal", won the American National Book Award, ranked in the German Top 10 for three consecutive months... Stories about this island have been continuously affirmed on the international stage, allowing the world to see Taiwan.

How can such literature be allowed to go backwards?

"Pen Relay" is part of the recall movement, and also a carnival of writing. After a thousand creators signed a petition, hundreds of creators began writing. Within three weeks of the activity's launch, under a broad theme, over three hundred works were completed, and the number of works continues to increase. This is the largest literary movement in Taiwan's history.

"Why Believe in the Power of Literature" serves as an anthology of this free writing movement. Under the three categories of essays, poetry, and fiction, it selects 45 creators and 45 works, and also includes in-depth reports on the "Pen Relay" activity, individual interviews with participating authors, and two sincere introductions from sociological and literary perspectives: Su Shuo-bin's "Intervening in Society is the Absolute Freedom of Literature" and Chang Yi-hsun's "So Many Reasons for Bravery."

This is a book that bears witness to "how creation becomes action," and even more so, it is a response of Taiwanese literary figures to the times. Believing in the power of literature is because we believe that we, who live together on this land, will eventually coalesce shared values and a shared worldview. Writing that cares for the land and the nation is not a limitation of literature, but a starting point for going out into the world. Art rooted in mountains and seas indeed possesses strong and powerful wings, capable of flying thousands of miles and touching the hearts of more people.