If you have been won over by night markets in Asia or in China, by their noise, their smell, their open-air restaurants, you’ll love this book.
The last book of Chinese novelist Chi Li has been translated: ” Life Show” tells us, in Wuhan, in the street of Good Omen, the life of a young woman, Cele (celebrity) and her restaurant well known for its duck necks, the local specialty.
Cele, Head of Family:
Cele … Lire la suite
Originally published on Rue89 -12/23/2010 –
Murong Xuecun is a young Chinese writer, one of the best known and most promising; he has received the 2010 People Literature award, but was not allowed to deliver the speech he had prepared for the handing over ceremony of the prize!
An urban generation which turns away from politics?A few months ago, I regretted the small number of translations of young writers and underlined the break … Lire la suite
Le Clezio, Nobel Prize for Literature, is one of the few writers who has never disappointed me: by his work, his likings, his positions, his personality and his distrust of the small Parisian literary world !
Le Clezio has always been interested in China (and Korea, where he teaches regularly). In 1967, at the opening of diplomatic relations, he asked to join the first group of Franco-Chinese cooperation, but unfortunately his application was rejected .… Lire la suite
The list of writers selected for the Man-Asia prize has just been published. Ten writers for a prize that will be awarded in March 2011.The rules have changed: the authors must be Asian and the books published or translated into English, whereas in the past, the long list was much larger (twenty five books) and related to works not yet published.
Over the past three years, Chinese writers have won the prize twice: “Wolf Totem” … Lire la suite
Originally published on Rue89 – 11/01/2010
After Mo Yan two years ago, the Chinese writer Han Shaogong was awarded the Newman prize for Chinese literature from the University of Oklahoma. The selected writers: Yu Hua, Su Tong, Ge Fei and Li Ang were strong competition.
His translator, Julia Lovell, a member of the jury, convinced the other members of the merits of his most famous work “A Dictionary of Maquiao” unfortunately not yet translated into … Lire la suite
As mentioned in an article for Rue89, “A Dictionary of Maqiao” just won the Newman prize in the United States.
This surprising book led to some turmoil when it was published in China in 1996 (1). Two Chinese critics explained that this dictionary is a plagiarism of “The Khazar Dictionary” by the Serbo-Croatian writer Milorad Pavic (born 1925), a book published in 1985 and translated into Chinese ..
The controversy in the press is severe, … Lire la suite
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
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
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
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
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
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
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