Yan Ge
Yan Ge | |
|---|---|
| Native name | 颜歌 |
| Born | Dai Yuexing 1984 (age 39–40) Sichuan, China |
| Occupation | Novelist, writer |
| Language | Standard Chinese, Sichuanese, English |
| Nationality | Chinese |
| Alma mater | Sichuan University |
| Notable works | Our Family |
Yan Ge (Chinese: 颜歌, pinyin: Yán Gē, born 1984) is the pen name of Chinese writer Dai Yuexing (戴月行, pinyin: Dài Yuèxíng).
Life and career[edit]
Yan Ge was born Dai Yuexing in December 1984 in the Pixian district of Chengdu.[1] She began writing at the age of ten and her first book was published when she was 17 years old.[2]
Yan completed a PhD in comparative literature at Sichuan University and is the Chair of the China Young Writers Association. Her writing includes substantial amounts of her native Sichuanese, rather than Standard Chinese.[3] People’s Literature (Renmin Wenxue 人民文学) magazine recently chose her – in a list reminiscent of The New Yorker's ‘20 under 40’ – as one of China's twenty future literary masters. In 2012 she was chosen as Best New Writer by the prestigious Chinese Literature Media Prize (华语文学传媒大奖 最佳新人奖). In 2011, she was awarded a visiting scholar position at Duke University.[4] Yan was a guest writer at the Crossing Border Festival in The Hague in November 2012, and has since appeared at numerous literary festivals throughout Europe.[5] She has lived in Dublin with her husband, Daniel, and their child since 2015.[6][7]
Yan has been writing in English in addition to Mandarin and Sichuanese. Her first English book is a 2023 short story collection Elsewhere: stories.[2][8] Reviewer Chelsea Leu wrote
Yan Ge’s English debut is preoccupied with language, its failures, and its relationship to human emotions and the raw reality – the 'food' – of life. ... These stories map out the distance between the head and the gut – the way language can fail to convey the deepest, most visceral facts of life."[8]
Reviewer Sindya Bhanoo wrote that the stories "explore the power of language across the Chinese diaspora to either bring people together or push them apart."[9]
Awards[edit]
- 2003 - Chinese Literature Media Award[10]
- 2002 - 1st prize, New Concept Writing Competition[10]
- 2001 - Honored as one of China's Top 10 Young Fiction Writers by the Lu Xun Literature School of the China Writers Association
Publications[edit]
- 五月女王 May Queen, 2008 - novel
- 钟腻哥 Sissy Zhong - short story (translated by Nicky Harman)[11]
- 白马 White Horse - novella (translated by Nicky Harman)[12]
- 照妖镜 Demon-Reflecting Mirror- novella[13]
- 平乐镇伤心故事集 Sad Stories of Pingle Township (5 stories including White Horse and Demon-Reflecting Mirror).[14]
- 我们家 Our Family, 2013.
- English translation: The Chilli Bean Paste Clan, translated by Nicky Harman, Balestier Press, 2018; also German and French editions.[15]
- 异兽志 Record of Strange Beasts, 2006.
- English translation: Strange Beasts of China, translated by Jeremy Tiang, Melville House Publishing, 2021.[16]
- Elsewhere: stories, 2023 - short stories. Scribner (US) and Faber (UK) ISBN 978-1-9821-9848-0 (published in English)
References[edit]
- ^ Duzan, Brigitte. "Yan Ge 颜歌". www.chinese-shortstories.com.
- ^ a b "Chinese writer Yan Ge finds solace in creating literary worlds". CBC. 11 February 2022.
- ^ "Yan Ge: families, humour, Sichuan, a spicy dish".
- ^ Zhong, Na (2018-10-09). "Writing from In-Between: A Conversation with Yan Ge". SupChina. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
- ^ "China". Dutchculture | Centre for international cooperation.
- ^ Abrahamsen, Eric. "Yan Ge". Paper Republic.
- ^ "November 2014: Yan Ge 颜歌 : The Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing". writingchinese.leeds.ac.uk.
- ^ a b Leu, Chelsea (2023-07-12). "Elsewhere by Yan Ge review – a visceral English debut". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
- ^ Bhanoo, Sindya (2023-09-15). "In Three New Story Collections, Much Is Left Unsaid". New York Times. Retrieved 2023-10-22.
- ^ a b "Yan Ge: A Budding Author - All China Women's Federation". www.womenofchina.cn.[dead link]
- ^ Abrahamsen, Eric. "Zhong Nige". Paper Republic.
- ^ "White Horse - HopeRoad Publishing". www.hoperoadpublishing.com.
- ^ "20. Reflecting Teenagers on a Sichuanese Mirror: Yan Ge and her stories from Pingle Township". November 19, 2016.
- ^ Abrahamsen, Eric. "Reflecting Teenagers on a Sichuanese Mirror: Yan Ge and her stories from Pingle Township". Paper Republic.
- ^ "The Chilli Bean Paste Clan".
- ^ Abrahamsen, Eric. "Yan Ge". Paper Republic. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
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