Xinran became famous with her first book - the bestselling semi-memoir, The Good Women of China. We have this title as an eBook too.
Xinran was born in Beijing in 1958, and grew up in the Cultural Revolution before migrating to England in 1997. She was a popular broadcaster and journalist in China. She currently resides in London and writes for The Guardian.
She writes in Chinese and is translated by Esther Tyldesley. Her books include Sky Burial (2004), Miss Chopsticks (2007), China Witness: Voices from a Silent Generation (2008) and, more recently, Buy Me the Sky (2015).
Xinran began writing about women's issues and life stories. More recently, her books cover cultural, economic, and other social issues too - before, during and after the Cultural Revolution. These topics are largely neglected in popular memoirs. She explores apolitical populations, and coming of age in the Cultural Revolution - reflecting thoughtfully on changes, expressions of loss and loneliness. She aims to reveal the true China.
WORD Christchurch gives me an opportunity to hear Xinran talking about her latest book Buy Me the Sky which focuses on China’s one-child policy’s impact. As a Chinese woman with only one daughter, I am keen to hear her understanding and interpretation about China’s one-child policy - she, like me, is a mother who grew up during the Cultural Revolution and has only one child.
- Buy tickets to Xinran in Christchurch (Thursday 14 May 2015)
- Search our catalogue for Xinran
- Listen to Xinran on Sunday Morning, Radio New Zealand National, 26 April 2015
- China's one-child legacy: A singular generation Jeremy Olds, Sunday Magazine, 12 April 2015
WORD Christchurch recommends
- China's lost children Naomi Arnold, Your Weekend, 2 May 2015
- Xinran on BBC Radio's Woman's Hour, opens a new window talking about Buy Me the Sky.
- A short clip, opens a new window (more available) of Xinran talking about Buy Me the Sky.
Anna Sun
Upper Riccarton Library
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