Liao Yiwu discovers Germany and this weekend Paris.

Following the likely intervention of Chancellor Angela Merkel, to whom he had written a letter, the writer Liao Yiwu was allowed to travel to Germany for the Frankfurt Book Fair and to meet his readers. His translator in France, Marie Holzman, was able to arrange his coming to Paris and led a discussion in the major bookshop The Phoenix.

A talented witness:

His job is to be the witness of those who can not manage … Lire la suite

Meet Yang Lian, a Chinese poet and in the future on the Nobel short list…

Originally published on Rue89-10/01/2010 .

For several years, names are listed for the Nobel Prize for Literature: Yang Lian, Bei Dao, Duo Duo, three poets, well known and praised worldwide. We met Yang Lian in London earlier this year, at a symposium devoted to his friend Gao Xingjian the Nobel Prize.

The release in France of a new collection of his poems (“Notes of a blissful ghost”, ed. Caracteres) encouraged us to continue reading his … Lire la suite

Cao Wenxuan, children literature and…talent.

Cao Wenxuan is a professor of literature at Beijing University, he has published over fifty short stories and novels, some of which have become classics in the school curriculum. He publishes magazines, anthologies and participates in the development of programs and books for schools.

He is also known for his writings on literature and is a member of the Lu Xun Prize jury. His works on literature, according to a reader of Rue 89, who … Lire la suite

Alison Wong, the Chinese voice from New Zealand.

Originally published on Rue89 -09/27/2010 –

The gold rush in California and Australia has generated significant Chinese migrations. Quite unknown are the migrations fom the Canton area to the “New Gold Mountain”, New Zealand, which began around 1866. Limited numbers since in the 1890s, a maximum of 5000 Chinese (including nine women!) Inhabited the country. Among them, the great grandfather of Alison Wong; with ” As the Earth Turns Silver” she has just published a … Lire la suite

“Change”, an autobiographical novella by Mo Yan.

Marketing fad or same age effect, during the last months, three autobiographical books  have been signed by the major writers of modern China: Yan Lianke, Yu Hua and Mo Yan.

The book byYan Lianke was a great success, which he did not expect. “The generation of my father” sold more than three hundred thousand copies. A book on the life of his village and his family and filial piety.

Yu Hua’s book is very … Lire la suite

Yu Hua: Ten key words to understand China.

Originally published on Rue89- 09/13/2010 –

After the international success of his novel “Brothers”, Yu Hua, publishes as world premiere in France, “China in ten words,” a collection of essays organized around ten key words: political terms of Communist China or of the current capitalist developments, but also sociological analysis and texts related to the writer’s career.

This book is an extension of “Brothers” – ” the idea is to fill with a non-fictional narrative, … Lire la suite

Fifteen years later, the triumph of Eileen Chang.

Eileen Chang died in 1995 in Los Angeles after considerable success in China and Hong Kong in the 1940s; she failed to be recognized as a writer in the U.S. where she had emigrated and died at the age of 75, forgotten and isolated. Fifteen years later, she tops sales in the Chinese world, especially among the female audience. She is now considered a major writer. In less than two years, three of her books … Lire la suite

Shanghai off the beaten track.

If you visit the Expo, do not rely on travel agencies if you want to discover lesser-known aspects of Shanghai that the few “must see”. During the Olympics in Beijing, I had suggested in Rue89, “literary walks” that received positive reactions. Unable to go to Shanghai this year, I still found some interesting information.

1 – The residence of pre-war celebrities:

The China Daily “(2010-07/02), offers eight ideas of visits of the beaten track, including … Lire la suite

The Hong Kong Book Fair, five times bigger than Paris.

The “Salon du Livre” in Paris is thirty years old, the Hong Kong Book Fair celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2009. Paris recorded 190,000 visitors and 920,000 in Hong Kong for a city of seven million inhabitants.

In Hong Kong, the Book Fair, the largest in Asia, is a popular event, a landmark event which attracts some 90,000 tourists (1). Visitors come mainly for buying books, novels and literature for more than 80% ( of … Lire la suite

Fenghuang, the most beautiful small town in China?

It is in Fenghuang that the famous writer Shen Congwen (1902-1988) spent his youth. This small town in western Hunan Province (South China), is considered a unique architecture heritage, being considered for the World Heritage List of theUnesco.

An unsettled border zone:

In China, the Han are 92% of the population. Fifty-six “ethnic minorities” total 110 million of which 9 million people are Miao; with the Tujia, the Miao represent an important share of the … Lire la suite

Shen Congwen, a great writer to be rediscovered .

With Lao She and Lu Xun, Shen Congwen is without doubt one of the great writers of the last century, but for Shen Congwen, no further translations, he has to be discovered by a new generation.

 A family of military tradition:

An illustrious grandfather, who was general, a father who was a military doctor but never at home. Miao by his grandmother and Tujia by his mother, he claims that he is a Han  but … Lire la suite

“Lost Generation” by Michel Bonnin.

Twenty million young Chinese were sent to the countryside to be re-educated during the Cultural Revolution. This episode, not often mentioned in France, is of major importance for the understanding of history and Chinese literature. ‘Lost Generation’,  sending educated youth to rural China (1968-1980) was published in 2004 by Editions de l’Ecole des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) and is the reference book on the subject.

Michel Bonnin started the first interviews in Hong … Lire la suite

“Writings from the rat’s nest”by Lao She.

Lao She is one of my favorite writers; I enjoyed reading this little book a few months after the publication by the same publisher of “The Philosophy of Lao Zhang” his first novel.

The “Writings …” are newspaper and magazine articles, especially from the period 1934-1939, but with a good short story, dated 1959, on cats, his favorite animal. Many autobiographical articles on his family, his children, his youth, his mother and uncle … demonstrate … Lire la suite