Shan Sa is the pseudonym of Yan Ni (born October 26, 1972, in Beijing, China), a French author and painter. ''The Girl Who Played Go'' was the first of her novels to be published outside France, and won the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens (a prize voted by secondary school students). Her second novel to appear in English translation was ''

Empress The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

'' (2006). She was awarded chevalier of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

in July 2009 and chevalier of the

Ordre national du Mérite The (; ) is a French order of merit with membership awarded by the President of the French Republic, founded on 3 December 1963 by President Charles de Gaulle. The reason for the order's establishment was twofold: to replace the large number of ...

in May 2011. Shan Sa is also a painter with exhibitions in Paris, New York, and Shanghai.

Biography

Shan Sa was born as Yan Ni in Beijing, China, to a scholarly family. She adopted the pseudonym Shan Sa from a poem by the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

poet

Bai Juyi Bai Juyi (also Bo Juyi or Po Chü-i; , Mandarin Chinese, Mandarin pinyin ''Bǎi Jūyì''; 772–846), courtesy name Letian (樂天), was a Chinese musician, poet, and politician during the Tang dynasty. Many of his poems concern his career o ...

. At age 8, she published her first poetry collection, and went on to obtain the first prize in the national poetry contest for children under 12 years, an event that created a public upheaval. After graduating from secondary school in Beijing, she moved to Paris in August 1990 thanks to a grant by the French government. Settling there with her father, a professor at the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

, she quickly adopted the French language. In 1994, she finished her studies of philosophy. From 1994 to 1996 she worked as a secretary of painter Balthus. Thereafter she published her first two novels and a collection of poetry, meeting with great critical acclaim including the 1998 Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman (Prix Goncourt for first novel) for ''Porte de la paix céleste''. In 2001 she reached the top of her success with the publication of her most famous book so far, '' The Girl Who Played Go'' (''La Joueuse de Go'' in French). The book received good feedback from readers and was awarded a number of prizes, including the 2001 Prix Goncourt des Lycéens (Prix Goncourt of the High-school students) and has been translated to 32 languages.

Bibliography

* ''Yan Ni's Poems'' (阎妮的诗, 1983). * ''Porte de la paix céleste (Gate of Celestial Peace)'' (1997). * ''Les Quatre Vies du saule (The Four Lives of the Willow)'' (1999). * ''La Joueuse de go ( The Girl Who Played Go)'' (2001). * ''Impératrice (

)'' (2003), based on the life of Empress Wu of Zhou * ''Les Conspirateurs (Conspirators)'' (2005) * ''Alexandre et Alestria (Alexander and Alestria)'' (2006) * ''La Cithare nue (The Ghost Empress)'' (2010)

Awards

* Winner of the Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman for ''Porte de la paix céleste (Gate of Celestial Peace)'' in 1998. * Winner of the Prix Cazes-Brasserie Lipp for ''Les Quatre Vies du saule (The Four Lives of the Willow)'' in 1999. * Winner of the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens in 2001 and the 2004 Kiriyama Prize for fiction for '' La Joueuse de go (The Girl Who Played Go)''.

External links

Shan Sa LinkedIn pageShan Sa at the PEN American Centre website
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shan, Sa 1972 births Living people Artists from Beijing 20th-century French novelists 21st-century French novelists French women novelists Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman recipients Prix Goncourt des lycéens winners Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 20th-century French women writers 21st-century French women writers 20th-century Chinese novelists 21st-century Chinese novelists Chinese women novelists Chinese novelists Go (game) writers 20th-century Chinese women writers 20th-century Chinese writers 21st-century Chinese women writers Chinese emigrants to France Writers from Beijing French-language writers from China