Yu Hua

Yu Hua 余华
Yu Hua at the 2005 Singapore Writers Festival
Born	April 3, 1960 Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China[1]
Occupation	Novelist, essayist
Language	Chinese
Nationality	Chinese
Alma mater	Lu Xun Literature School
Period	1984 - present
Genre	Novel, prose
Literary movement	Avant-garde
Notable works	To Live Chronicle of a Blood Merchant Brothers Cries in the Drizzle
Notable awards	5th Zhuang Zhongwen Literary Prize 1992 James Joyce Award 2002 Ordre des Arts et des Lettres 2004
Relatives	Father: Hua Zizhi (华自治) Mother: Yu Peiwen (余佩文)

Yu Hua (simplified Chinese: 余华; traditional Chinese: 余華; pinyin: Yú Huá) is a Chinese author, born April 3, 1960 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. He practiced dentistry for five years and later turned to fiction writing in 1983 because he didn't like "looking into people’s mouths the whole day."^[2] Writing allowed him to be more creative and flexible. He grew up during the Cultural Revolution and many of his stories and novels are marked by this experience. One of the distinctive characteristics of his work is his penchant for detailed descriptions of brutal violence.^[3]

Yu Hua has written four novels, six collections of stories, and three collections of essays. His most important novels are Chronicle of a Blood Merchant and To Live. The latter novel was adapted for film by Zhang Yimou. Because the film was banned in China, it instantly made the novel a bestseller and Yu Hua a worldwide celebrity. His novels have been translated into English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Persian, Polish, Spanish, Swedish, Hungarian, Serbian, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Czech and Malayalam.

Awards

• Grinzane Cavour Prize (1998) for To Live
• James Joyce Award (2002). He was the first Chinese writer to receive this award.^[4]
• Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France (2004)^[5]
• Barnes & Noble Discovery Great New Writers Award (2004)
• Special Book Award of China (2005)^[5]
• Prix Courrier International (2008)^[5]

Works

Note: cited works are those translated into English from the original Chinese.

Short story collections

• Yu, Hua; Jones, Andrew F. (trans) (1996). The Past and the Punishments. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 0-8248-1817-2. OCLC 45727784.
  • Leaving Home at Eighteen (Chinese: 十八岁出门远行; pinyin: Shíbā Suì Chūmén Yuǎnxíng)
  • Classical Love
  • Blood and Plum Blossoms (Chinese: 鮮血梅花; pinyin: Xiānxuè Méihuā)
• World Like Mist: Eight Stories (pinyin: Shi shi ru yan) ISBN 986-7691-37-7
• Yu, Hua; Barr, Allan H. (trans) (2011). China in Ten Words 十个词汇里的中国. New York: Pantheon. ISBN 978-0-307-37935-1. OCLC 701810348.
  (simplified Chinese: 十个词汇里的中国; traditional Chinese: 十個詞彙裡的中國; pinyin: Shí Gè Cíhuì Lǐ De Zhōngguó) ISBN 978-986-120-477-2
• Yu, Hua; Barr, Allan H. (trans) (2014). Boy in the twilight: stories of the hidden China 黄昏里的男孩. New York: Pantheon. ISBN 978-0-307-37936-8. OCLC 841899112.
  (Chinese: 黄昏里的男孩; pinyin: Huánghūn lǐ de nánhái)

Novels

• Yu, Hua; Barry, Michael (trans) (2003). To Live 活着. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 978-1-400-03186-3. OCLC 51752247.
  (Chinese: 活着; pinyin: Huózhe
• Yu, Hua; Jones, Andrew F. (trans) (2003). Chronicle of a Blood Merchant 许三观卖血记. New York: Pantheon. ISBN 978-0-375-42220-1. OCLC 51978096.
  (Chinese: 许三观卖血记; pinyin: Xǔ Sānguān Mài Xuè Jì)
• Yu, Hua; Barr, Allan H. (trans) (2003). Cries in the Drizzle 在细雨中呼喊. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 978-0-307-27999-6. OCLC 104878666.
  (Chinese: 在细雨中呼喊; pinyin: Zaixiyuzhong Huhan)
• Yu, Hua; Chow, Eileen Cheng-yin (trans); Rojas, Carlos (trans) (2009). Brothers 兄弟. New York: Pantheon. ISBN 978-0-375-42499-1. OCLC 228701323.
  (Chinese: 兄弟; pinyin: Xiōng Dì, 2005–2006) shortlisted at the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize
• Yu, Hua; Barr, Allan H. (trans) (2015). Seventh Day 第七天. New York: Pantheon. ISBN 978-0-804-19786-1. OCLC 883747924.
  余华 (2013). 第七天; Diqitian 第七天 (in Chinese). Beijing: Xin xing chu ban she. ISBN 9787513312103. OCLC 853063206.

Further reading

• Chinese Writers on Writing featuring Yu Hua. Ed. Arthur Sze. (Trinity University Press, 2010).

References

1. Johnson, Ian (11 October 2012). "An Honest Writer Survives in China". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
2. Yu, Hua (30 August 2003). "Interview with Yu Hua". University of Iowa International Writing Program (Interview). Interview with Michael Standaert. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
3. Zhao, Yiheng (Summer 1991). "Yu Hua: Fiction as Subversion". World Literature Today. 65 (1). JSTOR 40147343.
4. "Yu Hua: Brothers, 2008 Shortlist". Man Asian Literary Prize. 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2009.
5. "Yu Hua". The New York Times. 2014. Retrieved 12 March 2015.

External links

• Yu, Hua (30 August 2003). "Interview with Yu Hua". University of Iowa International Writing Program (Interview). Interview with Michael Standaert. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
• A conversation with Yu Hua at UCLA
• Profile, nytimes.com
• Yu, Hua (21 February 2014). "Stranger Than Fiction: A Q&A with Yu Hua". ChinaFile Culture (Interview). Interview with Zhang Xiaoran. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
• Yu, Hua (Winter 2003). "EAA Interview with Yu Hua, author of To Live (Huo Zhe)" (PDF). Education About ASIA (Interview). 8 (3). Interview with Helen Finken. Retrieved 12 March 2015.