Turn-up for the books

A trio of recent book fairs gave literature lovers the chance to hear their favorite writers discuss how China's reform and opening-up helped shape their work

He Jianming, 62, is one of the country's leading writers of nonfictional works, especially in the field of literary reportage.

His writing career took off in 1978, the year that China's reform and opening-up process began, and it has continued to flourish in tandem with the country's development for the past 40 years. Key moments in China's history over the decades have formed the mainstay of his work.

Of his 50 books based on real-life events or characters, eight have been turned into films or television series. The three-time Lu Xun Literature Prize winner also penned The Nation, a work based on the real-life evacuation of Chinese citizens from Libya by PLA special forces in 2011. First published in 2012, the work is said to have inspired the blockbuster movie Wolf Warrior.

"I firmly believe in the power of positive thought. I turned myself from an anxious young writer, who continually worried about the problems and dissatisfaction he observed, into an author who tries to set a good example and bring warmth and brightness to his readers," He said, speaking about the transformation in his writing style over the past four decades.