Eileen Chang - also known as Zhang Ailing - is one of China's most widely read authors. After an unhappy childhood in Shanghai, she began publishing short stories as a college student in the 1940s. Her genius was recognized almost immediately, and there were soon rumors of her being considered for a Nobel Prize. In 1955 Chang resettled in America, where she continued to write but became increasingly reclusive. When she died in her Los Angeles apartment in 1995, it took neighbors days to realize she was gone. Translator Karen Sawyer Kingsbury will explain why Chang should never be forgotten again.
Purchase Chang's Love in a Fallen City and Lust, Caution, soon to be made into a feature film directed by Ang Lee, at amazon.com.
Eye-opening discussion about a little known writer. Good work. Thanks.
Your exceedingly thorough discussion brings pleasure to dedicated fans of Zhang as well as to those reading her for the first time.
Search current and archival WNYC broadcasts. More