Lijia Zhang's Blog, page 33

an interview with Australia Financial Review

http://www.afr.com/lifestyle/lijia-zhang-a-rocketfuelled-author-zeroes-in-on-subjects-china-ignores-20171108-gzhhxu

an interview with Women and Gender in China

https://www.wagic.org/blank-2/2017/11/22/In-Conversation-with-Lijia-Zhang

social commentary

On sunday, I spent hours being interviewed by an Australian TV crew, about marriage/wedding ceremony in China and its significance in Chinese cultural context. For me, I enjoy such interviews. Apart from the attention, they serve as mental tease. Besides, I love to share what I know about the Chinese culture with broad audience.

Hk literature festival

In HK, enjoying the literature festival. My session on my novel Lotus was moderated by the fabulous and erudite Ian Johnson. Of course it went well. Yesterday I gave a talk to an international school about gender issue. Last night, a dinner (people paying to have dinner with me) was organized for me by Young China Watchers, attended by mostly journalists and diplomats. To my great relief, it also went well. Now I only have a lecture at HK Baptist University about writing/literature.

journalism Vs fiction

My last session (and one of the last sessions of the festival in Ubud) was about the relationship between journalism and fiction with Australian lawyer/surfer turned writer Jock Serong, Portuguese poet Anna Weidenhoizer and Indonesian journalist and writer Muhammad Subhan. Every panelist has written both fiction and non-fiction. It was brilliantly moderated by Australian journalist Rosemarie Wilsom, a big reader of both fiction and non-fiction.

I thought that, given it was late and audience felt hot and tired, there might not be enough people. To my delightful surprise, there was a sizeable crowd, though not as big as the session with Jung Chang, of course.

It went really well!

Below are some of the points I made.

Journalism and fiction cover a lot of common ground. There’s little wonder that some successful writers come from journalistic background, Mark Twin, Ernest Hemingway, Joan Didion, to name just a few.

Some journalists got into the profession because they love writing. Then some find journalism frustrating and limiting. There’s a fundamental difference between the two: one is pure imagination and the other pure documentation. In journalism, you have to stick to what has actually happened. You can’t allow your imagination go wild. That’s a major restriction for some literary minded journalists. That was why in the 60s the so-called ‘New Journalism’ was launched in US where journalists generously borrowed techniques commonly used in faction writing, setting the scenes, good conversation, sense of suspense, character development. One good example is in Cold Blood by Truman Capote.

I’d like to think that I’ve become a slightly better writer after spending years in completing the novel and I hope I can better apply the fictional techniques I’ve learnt in my future non-fiction books.

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Fuchsia Dunlop

I was excited when I had heard that Fuchsia Dunlop, the famous writer and cook who specializes in Chinese cuisine, was also coming to Ubud Writers and Readers’ Festival. We had met for at least a decade ago, (Fuchsia, as a producer for the BBC, interviewed me before) but never really got to know her. I was very impressed by her memoir Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper. This time, it was a real delight to spend time with her and hear her China stories and how she developed this amazing career, combining her interests in China and cooking.

Her latest book is Land of Fish and Rice – recipes from Jiangsu, my hometown, known as the culinary heart of China.

It is remarkable just to think that recipe book from a region in China can be sold like hot cakes. It is due to China’s rise, obviously, but also effort by people like Fuchsia. Well done, Fuchsia.

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Women of Letters

Last night, I was among a bunch ‘handpicked’ writers for a special event entitled ‘Women of Letters’, which celebrates the lost art of letter writing in an age of instagram and twitter. Each writer read out a personal letter. Malay writer Bernice Chauly talked humorously about menopause while Australian Kate Holden, who is known for her best-selling memoir describing her experience as a sex worker, wrote a touching letter to her son. I wrote an ‘Ode to the BBC’, talking about how learning English and listening to the BBC changed my life, of course, in my usual entertaining fashion, which made people laugh. I did rather well – if I do say so myself, since so many people came up to me afterwards and told me how much they loved my story.

I am really fond of the form of letter writing. I had had a lot of practice: my ex-husband and I wrote thousands of letters to each other. Maybe I’ll a write a novel in a form of letter one day.

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M

The best session at Ubud festival so far was the first one this morning by Canadian/Chinese Madeleine Thien about her new novel Do not Say We Have Nothing. It was shortlisted by Man Booker prize in 2016 and won several other rewards – deservingly. I was recommended by a few literary friends. I started to read while flying over to Bali. Already I am hooked and most impressed. It follows a ten-year-old girl Marie and her mother who takes in a young woman fleeing the aftermath of Tiananmen protests. It is ambitious and powerful and so beautifully written. I can’t recommend it higher.

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Sharing a stage with jung Chang

This afternoon I had the great honor and pleasure to share a stage with Jung Chang, the famous author of the Wild Swans, talking about women in China, as part of the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. She is a fabulous story teller and speaker. I am impressed. A large and enthusiastic audience – mostly thanks to her celebrity’s pulling power, I am sure.

sexual harassment in China

http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/10/25/china-refuses-to-admit-it-has-a-rape-problem-i-would-know/