Dear Literary Agent,

I am writing to introduce myself and to seek literary representation in the United States for a selection of my completed novels. I am Chen Wen-Han, writing under the pen name Chen Qing-Yang, a Taiwanese novelist, poet, literary critic, screenwriter, and scholar of modern Chinese rhetoric.

My fiction grows out of Taiwan’s history, culture, landscapes, and collective memory, while addressing universal human experiences—love, separation, identity, survival, destiny, family, historical trauma, and the search for home. I hope to bring these stories to international readers through English-language publication and, ultimately, through film and television adaptation.

I would particularly like to introduce three works that represent different dimensions of my literary vision:

1. Anping Romance

Anping Romance is a literary romance rooted in the historical and cultural landscape of Anping, Taiwan. By intertwining love, memory, place, and history, the novel transforms a distinctive Taiwanese setting into a story with broader emotional resonance. Anping is not merely a geographical location in the novel; it becomes a repository of memory and a space in which personal relationships intersect with cultural history.

The novel combines literary romance with historical and cultural elements and offers strong potential for international readers interested in Taiwan, East Asian culture, and emotionally driven literary fiction. Its visual sense of place and dramatic emotional relationships also provide possibilities for screen adaptation.

2. You Must Come Back Alive

You Must Come Back Alive is a historical literary novel of love, war, identity, and the birth of modern Taiwan.

At the emotional center of the novel is a simple but powerful promise:

“You must come back alive.”

The sentence becomes a symbol of love, family, hope, survival, and the determination to preserve human dignity in the midst of historical violence.

Set against the turbulent history of twentieth-century Taiwan, the novel follows ordinary people whose lives are transformed by war, political upheaval, social change, separation, and generational memory. Rather than presenting history solely through political events or famous figures, the novel approaches history through individual lives and intimate human relationships.

Its themes are universal: How does love survive war? How can individuals preserve their identity when history forces them into circumstances beyond their control? How can later generations understand the wounds and memories inherited from the past?

The novel has particular potential as both a literary historical novel and a film or premium television series, with its combination of historical scale, emotional conflict, family relationships, and cinematic storytelling.

3. Nanzhuang Anti-Japanese Incident

Nanzhuang Anti-Japanese Incident further develops my interest in transforming Taiwanese history into dramatic literary narrative. Drawing on a historical period of conflict and resistance, the novel places human lives at the center of historical events, exploring courage, sacrifice, survival, identity, and the relationship between individuals and their homeland.

The work is particularly significant within my international publishing vision because Taiwanese history remains comparatively unfamiliar to many English-language readers. By presenting historical experience through character, emotion, conflict, and narrative rather than through historical exposition alone, the novel offers an accessible entry point into Taiwan’s past.

Its historical setting, dramatic conflicts, and visual possibilities also make it suitable for consideration as a potential film or television project.

Taken together, these three novels demonstrate the breadth of my literary interests while sharing a common foundation: Taiwanese experience transformed into universal human storytelling.

My goal is not simply to introduce Taiwan as an exotic setting. I seek to tell compelling stories in which Taiwan becomes a meaningful part of a larger human conversation about love, war, memory, identity, family, loss, survival, and the passage of history.

I believe this perspective may be particularly relevant to the contemporary international literary market. Readers increasingly encounter literature from cultures and historical perspectives outside the traditional centers of English-language publishing. Taiwan offers a distinctive historical and cultural perspective, yet its literary narratives remain comparatively underrepresented in the English-language market.

My work also occupies a space between literary fiction and cinematic storytelling. I am deeply interested in narrative structure, character development, visual imagery, dramatic conflict, and adaptation. Several of my novels have been conceived with film and television possibilities in mind, allowing the stories to function both as literary works and as potential screen narratives.

Author Biography

Chen Wen-Han (Pen Name: Chen Qing-Yang) is a Taiwanese novelist, poet, literary critic, screenwriter, and scholar of modern Chinese rhetoric.

Born in Taiwan, Chen has devoted decades to literary creation and research. His creative and academic interests encompass fiction, modern poetry, literary criticism, screenwriting, narrative structure, modern Chinese rhetoric, and Chinese-language poetry aesthetics.

His literary works include historical literary fiction, contemporary romance, literary-commercial fiction, fantasy adventure, and other forms of narrative writing. His recurring concerns include love and destiny, individual lives within historical change, cultural memory, identity, human relationships, and the spiritual dimensions of life.

As a poet and scholar, Chen has conducted systematic research into modern Chinese poetry and its rhetorical and aesthetic mechanisms. His areas of study include imagery, symbolism, synaesthesia, surrealistic expression, poetic structure, formal design, and literary expression techniques.

His academic works include:

《東方詩學（一）華文現代詩修辭美學：形式設計美學》
Eastern Poetics I: Rhetorical Aesthetics of Modern Chinese Poetry — Aesthetics of Formal Design

《東方詩學（二）華文現代詩修辭美學：表現技巧美學》
Eastern Poetics II: Rhetorical Aesthetics of Modern Chinese Poetry — Aesthetics of Expressive Techniques

As a screenwriter, Chen approaches storytelling with an awareness of dramatic structure, visual composition, character conflict, and cinematic adaptation. His literary work therefore seeks to establish a dialogue between literature and visual media.

His broader international literary vision is to build bridges between Taiwan and the world, history and the present, individual memory and collective identity, and literature and cinema.

I would be honored to have the opportunity to submit the complete manuscripts, detailed book proposals, synopses, sample chapters, and additional materials for your consideration.

Thank you very much for your time and consideration. I sincerely hope that my work may find an opportunity to reach English-language readers through the guidance and representation of a literary agent who recognizes the international potential of Taiwanese literature.

Warm regards,

Chen Wen-Han (Pen Name: Chen Qing-Yang)
Taiwanese Novelist • Poet • Literary Critic • Screenwriter
Scholar of Modern Chinese Rhetoric

Email: 54088rabbit@gmail.com

尊敬的美國文學代理人：

您好。

我謹此向您介紹自己，並希望尋求美國文學代理與英文出版的合作機會。

我是陳文翰，筆名陳清揚，台灣小說家、詩人、文學評論家、電影電視編劇，以及現代漢語修辭學研究者。

我的文學創作根植於台灣的歷史、文化、土地與集體記憶，同時關注人類共同的生命經驗，包括愛情、離別、身份認同、生存、命運、家庭、歷史創傷以及對家園的追尋。

我希望透過英文出版，將台灣的故事帶給國際讀者；同時，也希望透過電影與電視劇改編，使這些故事進一步進入國際影像市場。

目前，我特別希望向您介紹三部具有代表性的作品。

一、《安平羅曼史》

《安平羅曼史》是一部根植於台灣安平歷史與文化景觀的文學愛情小說。

小說將愛情、記憶、土地與歷史交織在一起，使安平不只是故事發生的地理空間，更成為承載文化記憶與人物情感的場所。

作品透過人物關係與歷史環境的交織，呈現台灣特殊的文化氣質，同時具有跨文化閱讀所需要的普世情感。

小說兼具文學愛情、歷史文化與地方記憶等元素，適合對台灣、東亞文化及文學愛情小說感興趣的國際讀者；其鮮明的場景與人物情感，也具備電影及電視劇改編的可能性。

二、《你要活著回來》

《你要活著回來》是一部關於愛情、戰爭、身份認同與現代台灣誕生的歷史文學小說。

小說最核心的一句話是：

「你要活著回來。」

這句話既是一句戀人之間的承諾，也是家人對遠行者的祈願，更象徵人在戰爭與歷史苦難中維持希望、尊嚴與生命意志的力量。

小說以二十世紀台灣的歷史變遷為背景，描寫普通人物如何受到戰爭、政治動盪、社會轉型、家庭離散與世代記憶的影響。

作品並不只是從政治事件或歷史人物的角度描述歷史，而是試圖回答：

歷史究竟如何改變普通人的命運？

當戰爭拆散相愛的人，愛情如何延續？

當一個人被時代推向無法選擇的命運時，他如何保存自己的尊嚴與身份？

下一代又如何理解上一代留下的歷史創傷與記憶？

這部作品兼具歷史文學的厚度與電影敘事的視覺性，具有發展為歷史電影或高品質影集的潛能。

三、《南庄抗日事件》

《南庄抗日事件》進一步延伸我將台灣歷史轉化為文學敘事的創作方向。

作品以歷史衝突與抗爭為背景，將人物生命置於歷史事件的中心，透過人物的命運與選擇，探討勇氣、犧牲、生存、身份認同以及個人與土地、家園之間的關係。

這部作品對我的國際出版計畫尤其重要，因為台灣近代歷史對許多英文讀者而言仍然相對陌生。

我希望透過人物、情感、衝突與故事，而不是單純的歷史說明，讓國際讀者自然進入台灣的歷史經驗。

同時，作品所具有的歷史背景、戲劇衝突與視覺場景，也使其具備電影及電視劇改編的發展空間。

將這三部作品放在一起，可以看見我整體創作的一條共同主線：

將台灣經驗轉化為具有世界共鳴的人類故事。

我的目的並不是單純把台灣作為一個「異國背景」介紹給西方讀者，而是希望透過故事中的人物，使台灣成為人類共同議題的一部分。

我所關注的始終是：

愛情、戰爭、記憶、身份、家庭、失落、生存，以及歷史如何改變人的生命。

我相信，這樣的創作方向與當代國際出版市場具有一定的契合性。

近年來，世界讀者對不同文化與歷史經驗的文學作品具有越來越高的興趣；然而，相較於日本、中國、韓國等亞洲文化，台灣仍然是英文出版市場中相對少被充分呈現的文學空間。

因此，我希望透過自己的小說，讓國際讀者從人物生命出發，重新認識台灣的歷史與文化。

我的作品同時具有文學性與影像敘事性。

除了小說創作之外，我也從事電影、電視編劇，因此特別重視：

• 故事結構
• 人物發展
• 戲劇衝突
• 場景設計
• 視覺敘事
• 電影與影集改編可能性

我希望建立的是一種文學與影像彼此連結的創作方式。

作者創作履歷

陳文翰（筆名：陳清揚）

台灣小說家 • 詩人 • 文學評論家 • 編劇 • 現代漢語修辭學研究者

陳文翰出生於台灣，長期從事文學創作、文學評論、電影電視編劇與現代漢語修辭研究。

其創作與研究領域包括：

• 小說
• 現代詩
• 文學評論
• 電影及電視劇本
• 現代漢語修辭學
• 新詩美學
• 敘事結構研究

小說創作類型涵蓋：

• 歷史文學小說
• 愛情小說
• 文學性商業小說
• 現代都市小說
• 奇幻冒險小說

作品長期關注：

• 愛情與命運
• 個人生命與歷史變遷
• 家族與世代記憶
• 文化身份
• 人與土地的關係
• 人類精神與生命價值

在詩歌與學術研究方面，陳文翰長期研究現代漢語詩歌的修辭與美學機制，研究範圍包括：

• 意象建構
• 象徵
• 通感
• 超現實表現
• 虛實互映
• 詩歌形式
• 文學表現技巧

其相關學術著作包括：

《東方詩學（一）華文現代詩修辭美學：形式設計美學》

《東方詩學（二）華文現代詩修辭美學：表現技巧美學》

作為編劇與影像創作者，陳文翰重視故事的戲劇結構、人物衝突、場景視覺化與影像轉換能力，因此其小說創作往往同時具有文學閱讀與影像改編的可能性。

他的國際出版願景，是建立：

台灣與世界的文化橋梁，
歷史與當代的連結，
個人記憶與集體記憶的對話，
以及文學與電影之間的跨媒介交流。

《安平羅曼史》、《你要活這回來》與《南庄抗日事件》，正是這一創作理念不同面向的展現。

我誠摯希望能有機會向您提交完整小說手稿、詳細出版企畫案、故事大綱、試讀章節及其他相關資料，敬請您審閱。

非常感謝您撥冗閱讀這封自薦信。

我期待有機會透過專業的文學代理，讓台灣的故事進入英文出版市場，也讓更多國際讀者看見台灣文學所承載的歷史、情感與人性。

敬祝

順心

陳文翰（筆名：陳清揚）
台灣小說家 • 詩人 • 文學評論家 • 編劇
現代漢語修辭學研究者

Email: 54088rabbit@gmail.com