A reading session themed "Listening to Classics" was held at the 300-square-meter rotatable stage at Suzhou Culture and Arts Centre (SCAC), SIP on Jan 17, when nine renowned Suzhou-native performers, painters, scriptwriters and directors read a list of classic Chinese and foreign literary works for over 120 young literature and art enthusiasts sitting around them.

The event was the first session of a long-term program jointly sponsored by Suzhou Writers Association and Suzhou Dramatists Association with the purpose of offering local youths chances to gain deep insights into great literary works.

Works they read included all or part of the most remarkable letters, poems, proses, scripts and novels by English playwright William Shakespeare, German novelist Hermann Hesse, Taiwan's artist and writer Jiangxun, Chinese dramatist Cao Yu and Japanese fiction author Keigo Higashino.