Geling Yan

Geling Yan (; born 16 November 1958) is a Chinese-American author and screenwriter.

Early life

Yan was born in Shanghai, China in 1958. She is the second child of Yan Dunxun and Jia Lin. She has an elder brother Yan Geping (严歌平). Her father is an alumnus of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University.

Yan began performing as a dancer at age 12. She served in the People's Liberation Army in Chengdu, during the Cultural Revolution in Tibet and later as a journalist in the Sino-Vietnamese War, achieving a rank equivalent to lieutenant colonel.

Yan holds a bachelor's degree in literature from Wuhan University, and a Master's in Fine Arts in Fiction Writing from Columbia College Chicago.

Career

Works

Her first novel was published in 1985. She is the author of such novels as ''The Banquet Bug'' (published as ''The Uninvited'' in the UK) and ''The Lost Daughter of Happiness'', as well as a story collection entitled ''White Snake and Other Stories''. Several of Yan's works have been adapted for film, including '' Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl'', which was directed by Joan Chen, and '' Siao Yu'', directed by Sylvia Chang and screenplay co-written by Ang Lee. Zhang Yimou, the Chinese director of '' To Live'' and ''Raise the Red Lantern'' adapted her novella ''13 Flowers of Nanjing'' to the screen as '' The Flowers of War'', and his movie ''Coming Home'' was based on Yan's novel ''The Criminal Lu Yanshi''. She has worked on other scripts including a biography of Mei Lanfang, the Peking opera star, for Chinese director Chen Kaige.

Novels in English

* ''The Banquet Bug'' (written in English, published as ''The Uninvited'' in the UK 简体版《赴宴者》)
* ''The Lost Daughter of Happiness'' (tr. Cathy Silber, Chinese title ''Fusang'' 《扶桑》)
* ''The Flowers of War'' (tr. Nicky Harman, Chinese title ''Jinling shisan chai'' 《金陵十三钗》)
* ''Little Aunt Crane'' (tr. Esther Tyldesley, Chinese title ''Xiaoyi Duohe'' 《小姨多鶴》)
*''The Criminal Lu Yanshi'' (adapted into a movie, titled '' Coming Home'')《陆犯焉识》
* ''The Secret Talker''

Novels in Chinese （Chronological order of publication）

* 绿血
* 一个女兵的悄悄话 (''Yi ge nü bing di qiao qiao hua)''
* 雌性的草地
* 草鞋权贵 (In 2009, the name was changed to Shuangjiang《霜降》)
* 扶桑 (''The Lost Daughter of Happiness'' )
* 人寰 (In 2009, the name was changed to ''Xinli Yisheng Zaima'' 《心理医生在吗》）
* 无出路咖啡馆
* 花儿与少年
* '' 第九个寡妇（The Ninth Widow）''
* 一个女人的史诗
* '' 小姨多鹤（Auntie Duohe）''
* 寄居者
* 铁梨花
* 陆犯焉识
* '' 金陵十三钗（The Flowers of War）''
* 补玉山居
* '' 妈阁是座城（A City Called Macau）''
* 老师好美
* 床畔
* 舞男
* '' 芳华（Youth）''
* 666号
* 小站
* 蜃楼

Short stories in English

* ''The Landlady'' (tr. Lawrence A. Walker)
* ''Disappointing Returns'' (tr. David Haysom)
* ''White Snake and Other Stories'' (tr. Lawrence A. Walker)

Title

She is a member of the Hollywood Writers Guild of America, the Writer's Association of China, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Censorship in China

As of 11 February 2022, Yan was censored on China's internet after commenting on the atrocity and government cover-ups in the Xuzhou chained woman incident and agreeing with Zhou Xiaozheng's assessment that Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is a "human trafficker" who imposed a large sum of money for "donation" on foreign families who adopt Chinese orphans. Baidu Baike showed "Sorry, the page you're visiting no longer exists" for Yan's entry. The search results for Yan's name on Sina Weibo became unavailable.

Personal life

Yan's ex-husband is Li Kewei; they divorced in the 1990s. In 1992, Yan married her second husband Lawrence Walker in San Bruno, California. Walker is a diplomat. They have no biological children together, but have adopted a Chinese girl, Yanyan.严歌苓：做一个在美国畅销的中国作家
Retrieved 2017-01-14

References

External links

Geling Yan's website

Geling Yan at Peony Literary Agency

Geling Yan profile
a
Paper Republic
*

Book Browse
Biography
* https://web.archive.org/web/20080121031733/http://www.redroom.com/author/geling-yan

Yan Geling
Video produced by '' Makers: Women Who Make America''

Geling Yan on BBC Radio 4 Woman's Hour, 19 November 2015 (07:18 to 15:55)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yan, Geling
Chinese women short story writers
Chinese dramatists and playwrights
Chinese women dramatists and playwrights
1958 births
Living people
Chinese women novelists
Chinese novelists
Short story writers from Shanghai
American writers of Chinese descent
People's Liberation Army officers
Chinese journalists
20th-century Chinese short story writers
Wuhan University alumni
Columbia College Chicago alumni
Chinese military personnel of the Sino-Vietnamese War