Village of Stone, a novel by Guo Xiaolu, has been short-listed for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize 2005 by Arts Council England, the national development agency for the arts.

Evoking the harshness of life on the typhoon-battered coast of South China, the novel tells the story of one girl's struggle to build a life for herself against all odds and incisively portrays China's new urban youth.

The novel has been translated by Cindy Carter, a Beijing-based American translator.

Other contenders for the prize include Snow by Orhan Pamuk, The Flea Palace by Elif Shafak and Windows on the World by Frederic Beigbeder.

(CRI.com March 12, 2005)