Finding 'true life' in literature
“It's in literature that true lifecan be found. It's under the mask of fiction that you can tell the truth.” –Gao Xingjian
Born in China on Jan. 4, 1940 NobelPrize-winning author and critic Gao now makes his home in Paris where he is ascreenwriter, stage director, and celebrated painter. This past year hewas selected by the Royal Society of Literature for its prestigious"International Writer" award.
In China he wrote two of hisbest-known plays Signal Alarm and Bus Stop while holding down theresident playwright post at the Beijing People's Art Theatre (from 1981 to1987). Influenced by European theatrical models, his work there gained him areputation as a popular avant-garde writer.
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ButGao left China after running afoul of government officials for writing playsthat were critical of their policies. He said he feels that many writers“simply have to believe in themselves” in order to carry on with whatthey are doing, even when they are receiving little or no support for theirefforts.
“Inthe history of literature there are many great enduring works which were notpublished in the lifetimes of the authors,” he explained. “If theauthors had not achieved self-affirmation while writing, how could they havecontinued to write?”
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