The writer and poet Liao Yiwu was unable to attend last September the Frankfurt Book Fair; a few days ago, he could not leave Chengdu to fly to the Literary Festival in Cologne. In short, he never could get out of China ! Born in 1958, he narrowly escaped death during the famine of the…
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“Frogs” by Mo Yan did not receive the Dangdai award. The short list included all the books people are talking about in Beijing : the novels by A-Lai, Su Tong, Zhang Ling. Liu Zhenyun won the prize with “A Word Is Worth a Thousand Words. “after being the winner in 2007 with ” My name…
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If you like Mo Yan, cheer up. As was told during his interview to Rue89 (30/08/2009), his novel “Frogs” has just been published in Beijing. “Frogs”, “Wa” in Chinese is pronounced like Nu Wa, goddess in Chinese mythology who created humanity, more over the frog in some provinces is the symbol of fertility. As he…
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Much has been said on this writer in recent weeks. His first book, “There’s nothing I can do when I think of you late at night” was published, six months ago, in the prestigious Asian collection at the University of Columbia. The book is part of the “long list” of best translations prepared by the…
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Zhang Chengzhi recently published “In the ruins of an outbreak: Travel in Al-Andalus, the Islamic Spain which enjoyed a brilliant civilization from the 8th to the 15th century. This book, which is not translated, is presented in details by Bruce Humes (1). Zhang, after six trips to Andalusia, Morocco, Portugal, delivers a very personal book…
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Originally published on Rue89, 1/7/2010 Lu Xun, the “giant” of Chinese literature before the Revolution, makes the headlines in publishing: translations of high quality in France (by Sebastian Veg) and England (by Julia Lovell) and even a graphic novel about Ah-Q, his most famous short story (Editions Elytis). From tradition to challenge: Lu Xun…
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Originally published on Rue89, 29/5/2010. A childhood in a work camp, in love and activist in Beijing University during the “events” in Tiananmen Square in 1989. After graduating in psychology, Diane Wei Liang left China for an American university and a management consultant career. Now a mother, she lives in London, and has published two…
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Originally published on Rue89, 05/07/2010. Pollution by green algae is no promotion for tourism. This is true for some beaches in France,in Brittany, but also for Lake Tai. Only one hour by train from Shanghai, it is unlikely to be part of the tours offered to visitors of the Expo. This is…
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We have already mentioned the talent of the Chinese-American author Li Yiyun in a post mentioning a film based on one of her short stories (“A Thousand Years of Good Prayers”). We have been able to meet her in Paris during the launch of her novel “A beautiful spring day.” From Beijing to San Francisco…
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Originally published on Rue89, 7/4/2010. Invited to attend last march the Paris book fair : the Chinese writer Yan Lianke, who is well known to readers of Rue89. Yan Lianke is 52, he was born into an illiterate peasant family in the western Henan province. A career in the Army allows him to escape a…
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