From Left: Authors Zhang Chu, Gabija Grusaite and Michal Hvorecky attended a pannel held as part of the EU-China International Literary Festival at the Citic Book Shop Qi Hao in Beijing on May 26. Photo: Bi Mengying/GT

A series of workshops and panel discussions continued to draw avid participation of the public during the second weekend of the ongoing (May 17- June 5) EU-China International Literary Festival in Beijing.  

During a panel discussion on the interaction of politics, culture, identity, history and writing Sunday, three writers - Zhang Chu from China, Michal Hvorecky from Slovakia and Gabija Grusaite from Lithuania - led a rather thought-provoking discussion at the Citic Book Shop Qi Hao. 

Hvorecky pointed out that the three countries have all gone through some fundamental changes in the past three and four decades, which has had a huge impact on the literature of each country.

"What massively changed is not only the economy but the identity of the people," he said.  

Zhang - a winner of the Lu Xun Literature Prize, one of China's top literary prizes - agreed with Hvorecky's opinion. He added that it is a writer's responsibility to reflect these changes of identity in their writing.

"China and Lithuania are both changing so fast... For people who were born in late 1980s or early 1990s, our life is so different from our parents," Grusaite told the Global Times. She noted that the festival makes for a great platform for cultural exchanges while giving writers the opportunity to discuss these shared changes. 

This year, which marks the festival's fourth iteration, the festival is holding more than 90 events in bookshops, universities and embassies throughout Beijing.