The event of “Literary Symposium - Contemporary Spanish Literature and Literary Creation (Filandón, una velada literaria)”, co-organized by NTU College of Liberal Arts, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures of NTU, and Department of Hispanic Language and Culture of Fu Jen University, was held on Saturday, May 5. This event, subsidized by National Science Council, invited two writers and academicians from Royal Spanish Academy (RAE, in Spanish), Luis Mateo Díez and José María Merino (Vice-secretary of RAE), to share their experiences and opinions upon the theme.

This event, held at the Conference Room of College of Liberal Arts, was scheduled first on the academicians’ visiting list. The event was all in Spanish for the reason of having better discussions. All listed participants had been chosen based on the roll of the applicants by the organizers. The 75 attendants were Spanish teachers and students of NTU, and their counterparts from other domestic institutions, including Fu Jen University, National Chengchi University, National Taiwan Normal University, National Chi Nan University, Tamkang University, Providence University, and Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages. All participants were grouped into nine according to their academic backgrounds and the symposium’s topics, including “The Writers and Their Works,” “Contemporary Hispanic Literature and Literary Creation: Trend, Theory, and Paradigm,” “Comparative Literature,” “Translations of Literary Works,” “Short Narratives, Short Short Stories, and Children’s and Young Adult Literature”, “Regional Literature: Spanish and Latin American Literature”, “The Weaponry of Literature: Languages and Expressions”, “Literature and Cultural Studies”, and “Teaching and Learning Literature.” The event was co-hosted by Luisa Chang, the Vice Dean of College of Liberal Arts, and Regina Tu, the Director of Department of Hispanic Language and Culture of Fu Jen University. All the questions raised and the academicians’ responses made this symposium rather informative and fruitful.

On Monday morning the academicians visited Jo-shui Chen, the Dean of College of Liberal Arts, to exchange opinions and to discuss the history and the prominent academic performances of NTU, as well as the missions and honors of RAE. The academicians showed willingness to bridge the two institutions. The dean also explained the current situations of European languages’ teaching on the campus, and expected more and better relevant researches in NTU.