# Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize 2026 with Its Annual Theme Being The Decisive Moment of Literature Launches

- Link: https://www.thailand-business-news.com/pr-news/blancpain-imaginist-literary-prize-2026-with-its-annual-theme-being-the-decisive-moment-of-literature-launches
- Published: 2026-04-24T16:31:00+07:00
- Author: PR Newswire

BEIJING, April 24, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The 9th Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize
was officially launched on April 15, 2026. From today through May 15, the organizing
committee of the Prize accepts submissions from the organizing committee will accept
submissions from publishing houses, publishing companies, or individual authors.
The final winner will be announced at the awards ceremony in late October. The young
writer honored with the top prize will receive RMB 300,000 in writing support. The
other four shortlisted authors will each receive the Blancpain Young Friend Award,
a certificate of shortlist selection, and a writing fee of RMB 20,000, in recognition
of their creative dedication and to encourage their ongoing literary pursuits.

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Founded on the principles of "Fairness, Authority, and Professionalism", the Blancpain-
Imaginist Literary Prize seeks to discover and nurture outstanding young writers
under the age of 45 in Chinese-language literature. The co-organizers—Blancpain 
and Imaginist—have also consistently conveyed a simple yet profound message with
the public: "Reading makes time more valuable."

The judging panel of the Prize brings together a diverse group of iconic figures
from Chinese literature and culture, with membership renewed annually to ensure 
richness and high standards. This year’s jury consists of DAI Jinhua, GE Fei, TONG
Weige, ZHOU Xiaofeng, and ZHOU Yijun (listed in alphabetical order by surname).

**The Annual Theme of the Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize: ****_The Decisive 
Moment of Literature_**

A moment that demands resolve.

Over the past year—amidst controversies, the perplexity of originality, crises of
trust, and disenchantment with values—"literature" has stood at the center, either
as a target of critique or a faith still guarded in earnest. Meanwhile, AI’s fundamental
restructuring of basic creative writing compels us to ask: can what writing has 
lost be balanced by what it has gained? What is the meaning of literature today?

Much like the upheavals of the Industrial Revolution, we now find ourselves once
again in a tangible technological jungle and a creative fog of perpetual uncertainty.
The singularity of writing is being eroded; original storytelling and literary sensibility
are being challenged. Yet it is precisely in such moments that we can more clearly
recognize, among the followers of this ancient craft, those who are more open and
sincere. And amid the countless expressions, we perceive an urgent need in everyone
for the "literary moment" in life—all fixed forms of expression will be replaced,
but we will always need love, need to verify the smallest existence, need a sense
of hope that we know may be out of reach, and a life that can be told. Instinct 
will awaken this longing time and again. "A novel is no mere outward thing." So 
the future is indeed brutal, but not yet that grim—more like a perilous enchantment.

We try to pierce the fog, place a node in advance along the vertical axis of time,
and hope that our young and courageous friends, at this known turning point, will
quietly make their decisions and offer their true hearts. We call upon everyone 
devoted to literature to step away from inertia and old orders, to break with mediocrity,
and to guard the humanistic convictions we still hold dear. This "decision" does
not mean leaving the table; rather, it means casting one’s heart with the pen—to
record, in the face of all dissolution, inertia, and shortcuts, the hidden traces
of our time, to preserve the ache of the human heart, and to rebuild the spiritual
coordinates of a new world.

This is the decisive moment of literature—and the first step for each of us to finally
find our way through the labyrinth.

**Special Clarifications on Eligibility for the Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize
2026**

The Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize is founded on the principles of "Fairness,
Authority, and Professionalism", and its eligibility criteria have been established
accordingly. In light of certain situations encountered during previous submissions,
the Prize evaluation office hereby provides the following clarifications on points
that are easily overlooked (full eligibility text attached at the end), so as to
avoid invalid submissions.

1. According to the Eligibility Criteria, for short story collections: The work 
must be the first published collection of its kind, and content appearing for the
first time in a physical single-volume edition must account for at least two-thirds
of the total word count. When submitting, please provide the dates of the first 
publication and release of each individual story along with your signature or the
official stamp of your organization.

2. According to the Eligibility Criteria, a "single-volume edition" is defined as
a physical (paper) single-volume edition. Electronic publications are not accepted.

3.According to the Eligibility Criteria, the work must have been published between
May 1, 2025, and April 30, 2026, based on the copyright page of the first edition.

4. According to the Submission Method: "Each author may submit only one work for
consideration" means that regardless of whether the submission is made by a publisher,
publishing house, or by the author personally, the same author may only submit one
work.

**Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize 2026 Jury**

**DAI Jinhua**, distinguished Professor of Humanities in the Department of Chinese
Language and Literature, Peking University; Director of the Center for Film and 
Cultural Studies. Author of _Emerging from the Horizon of History: A Study of Modern
Chinese Women’s Literature_, _Invisible Writing: Cultural Studies of China in the
1990s_, _The Boat Across: Women’s Writing and Women’s Culture in the New Era of 
China_, _Scenery in the Fog_, _The Island of the Day Before,_ among others.

**GE Fei**, writer; Professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature,
Tsinghua University; Director of the Center for Literary Creation and Research, 
Tsinghua University. Author of novels including _The Jiangnan Trilogy_, _Look Forward
to Spring Breeze_, _Ascending the Spring Terrace_, novellas and short stories including
_The Lost Boat_, _The Invisibility Cloak_, and essay collection _The Path of Clouds_,
among others.

**TONG Weige**, writer. Author of novels _The Northwest Rain_ and _The Age of No
Hurt_, collections _Labodeshi Random Numbers_ and _Fairy Tales_, short story collection
_Wang Kao_, and stage play collection _All Things Grow_.

**ZHOU Xiaofeng**, writer. Author of essay collections _The Great Whale Sings_, 
_Like Migratory Birds_, _The Kiss of an Evil Beast_, and fairy tales _The Little
Wing_, Star Fish, _Your Kindness Looks Like a Bad Idea, etc_. She has won awards
including the Lu Xun Literature Prize and the National Excellent Children’s Literature
Award.

**ZHOU Yijun,** documentary director, writer, journalist. Author of _The Gate of
Life and Death in the Middle East_ and _Out of the Middle East: Witness and Reflection
of the Global Democracy Wave_. Director of the documentary _Childhood Elsewhere_
and the cultural talk show _First Person Plural_.

**About the Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize**

Co-founded by Blancpain, Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie, and Imaginist, China’s
most influential publishing brand, the Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize is the
first award in Chinese-language literature jointly established by a luxury brand
and a publishing house to discover and nurture outstanding young writers under the
age of 45. The principles of "Fairness, Authority, and Professionalism" were set
at its inception and have remained consistently upheld.

The participation and vitality of young people are always crucial indicators of 
an industry’s future. In literary creation, talented young writers need opportunities;
literary publishers need to discover promising authors and attract broader attention
and involvement. Many contemporary classic writers were discovered and recognized
in their youth, and literary prizes established specifically for young writers have
been profoundly meaningful to them. For example, V.S. Naipaul, J.M. Coetzee, and
Kazuo Ishiguro all received the Booker Prize earlier in their careers before winning
the Nobel Prize in Literature. Major Japanese writers such as Shūsaku Endō, Kenzaburō
Ōe, and Ryū Murakami were honored with the Akutagawa Prize in their youth. In today’s
world, literary writing remains a lonely and long journey for young authors. The
Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize sincerely aspires to seek out future writing 
talents who, like true artisans, refine every word** — **stroke by painstaking stroke**.**

As China’s most influential publishing brand, Imaginist is committed to discovering
the finest voices in the Chinese-speaking world, giving dignified publication to
thoughtful writing, and imagining new possibilities for books. Works of writers 
such as MU Xin, Pai Hsien-yung, Chang Ta-chun, and TANG Nuo have nourished the spiritual
universe of generations of readers. Imaginist persists in publishing literary classics
across time while also bringing together today’s most vibrant and thoughtful young
writers, who, through diverse writing and open perspectives, attend to the human
condition. Literature worth pursuing always lies beyond; ideal literature always
expands outward. To push beyond boundaries — such is the literary ethos of Imaginist.

With the Manufacture de Haute Horlogerie (MDHH) hallmark on its logo, Blancpain 
is a true fine watchmaking brand. For Blancpain, the "Creator of Classic Timepieces,"
watchmaking, like writing, springs from an unchanging passion. Founded in 1735, 
Blancpain led the watchmaking industry into the era of brands. Over nearly 300 years,
through changing times and historic choices, Blancpain has adhered to its belief
in crafting only mechanical watches, upholding the principle of never producing 
second-tier timepieces, and holding Haute Horlogerie as its eternal passion. This
passion shares the same origin as the commitment of writers to literature and the
pursuit of classic works. "Moving forward in the depth of time, making literature
as an extension of time"—this is Blancpain’s literary spirit.

**Submissions and Eligibility**

**Prizes**

Top Prize Winner (one author): RMB 300,000

Shortlisted Finalists (four authors): RMB 20,000 each

**Eligibility Criteria**

Submitted works must be full-length novels or short story collections written in
Chinese, officially published and distributed as physical single-volume editions
on the Chinese mainland between May 1, 2025, and April 30, 2026 (based on the copyright
page of the first edition). Anthologies or collections by multiple authors are not
accepted. **For short story collections, the work must be the first published collection
of its kind, and content appearing for the first time in a physical single-volume
edition must account for at least two-thirds of the total word count. When submitting,
please provide the dates of the first publication and release of each individual
story along with your signature or the official stamp of your organization.**

The age of the author must be under 45 (calculated at the time of the work’s publication).
The publication date is determined based on the copyright page of the first edition.
Reprints are not eligible.

**Submission Method**

Submissions may be made by publishers (publishing houses or companies) or by individual
authors.

By publishers: Submit an official letter listing recommended works, along with a
completed "Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize Recommendation Form"([Click on this link to download](https://www.ilixiangguo.com/statics/literary/download/2026%E5%AE%9D%E7%8F%80%E7%90%86%E6%83%B3%E5%9B%BD%E6%96%87%E5%AD%A6%E5%A5%96%E6%8E%A8%E8%8D%90%E8%A1%A8.docx?v=202604))
with an official stamp. Send the form and five copies of each work to the Prize 
evaluation office. **Each publisher may recommend up to two works**, with the author’s
consent required.

By individual authors: Complete the "Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize Recommendation
Form," sign it, attach a copy of your personal ID, and send the form along with 
five copies of your work to the Prize evaluation office.

**Each author may submit only one work for consideration.**

Submissions must be postmarked or courier-dated by May 15, 2026.

In addition to the printed materials, please send the electronic version of the 
work (PDF file), front and 3D cover images (without belly band, JPG files over 5MB),
and an electronic copy of the Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize Recommendation 
Form (WORD document) to the designated email address. The Prize evaluation office
will confirm receipt. Submitted sample copies will not be returned.

If a work is found to be ineligible, the Prize evaluation office reserves the right
to disqualify it.

**Mailing Address**

Blancpain-Imaginist Literary Prize Evaluation Office

Building B51, Hengtong International Business Park, No. 10 Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang
District, Beijing, China.

Postal Code: 100015

Tel: 010-53381268

Email: [BLANCPAIN-IMAGINIST@imaginist.com.cn](https://www.thailand-business-news.com/pr-news/BLANCPAIN-IMAGINIST@imaginist.com.cn)

**Judging Process**

The 2026 jury members are DAI Jinhua, GE Fei, TONG Weige, ZHOU Xiaofeng, and ZHOU
Yijun (listed alphabetically by surname).

Submissions will be received, organized, and numbered by the Prize evaluation office,
then forwarded to the five judges.

The judges will read all submitted works, discuss them, and each recommend titles.
Through discussion and voting, they will determine the longlist. After three rounds
of open voting, the shortlist will be selected, and from it the final winner will
be chosen.

1. The organizing committee fully respects the independent judgment of the judges
throughout the process; the longlist, shortlist, and final winner are determined
solely by the jury.

2. All judges must read all submitted works for the current year.

3. After repeated review of longlisted works, the judges will score, discuss, and
vote at the shortlist jury meeting. The top five works will comprise the shortlist.

4. The top prize winner will be chosen by final vote at the jury meeting on the 
morning of the awards ceremony.

**Attentions**

On August 1st, the Prize evaluation office will announce the longlist based on each
judge’s nominations, discussion, and voting.

On September 15th, the Prize evaluation office will announce the shortlist based
on the five finalists selected by majority vote of the judges.

The final winner (one) will be announced at the awards ceremony to be held in late
October (the exact date will be announced separately).

For updates on judging procedures and prize progress, follow the hashtag #BlancpainImaginistLiteraryPrize#
on Sina Weibo and Xiaohongshu, or visit the official website: [http://www.ilixiangguo.com/literary.html](http://www.ilixiangguo.com/literary.html).

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