Ma Jian (writer)

Ma Jian (zh-tspw|t=馬建|s=马建|p=Mǎ Jiàn|w=Ma Chien, b. August 18 1953) is a Chinese writer. He was born in Qingdao on the August 18 1953. In 1986, he moved to Hong Kong after a clampdown in which some his works were banned. In 1997, he moved to Germany, and in 1999 he again moved to England. He now lives in London with his partner and translator, Flora Drew.

Ma came to the attention of the English-speaking world with his story collection "Stick Out Your Tongue", translated into English in 2006. The stories are set in Tibet. Their most remarked-upon feature is that traditional Tibetan culture is not idealised, but rather depicted as harsh and often inhuman; one reviewer noted that the "stories sketch multi-generational incest, routine sexual abuse and ritual rape". [cite news|title=Review of 'Stick Out Your Tongue'|author=Guy Mannes-Abbott|publisher=The Independent|date=January 9, 2006|url=http://arts.independent.co.uk/books/reviews/article337351.ece] The book was banned in China as a "vulgar and obscene book that defames the image of our Tibetan compatriots." [cite news|title=Review of 'Stick Out Your Tongue'|author=Michael Dirda|publisher=Washington Post|page=BW15|date=May 7, 2006|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/04/AR2006050401654.html]

His "Beijing Coma" (2008) tells the story of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 from the point of view of the fictional Dai Wei, a participant in the events left in a coma by the violent end of the protests. The comatose narrator functions as a metaphor for the ability to remember and the inability to act. [Melissa Holbrook Pierson, "Strong Medicine", review of "Beijing Coma", "The Nation", August 4/11, 2008, p. 34–36.]

Works

*"Stick Out Your Tongue" (1987) with 2006 English translation. Banned in China.
*"Red Dust" (红尘)
*"The Noodle Maker" (拉面者) (2004)
*"Beijing Coma" (肉土) (2008)

References

External links

* [http://us.macmillan.com/author/majian Ma Jian at FSG]
* [http://www.boxun.com/my-cgi/post/display_all.cgi?cat=majian Some of his writing (in Chinese)]
* [http://indietrekker.com/blog/ma-jian-penn-world-voices Ma Jian at PEN Festival of World Literature]
* [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/books/review/Row-t.html?8bu&emc=bua2 review of "Beijing Coma"]
* [http://www.bookbrowse.com/excerpts/index.cfm?book_number=2141 Excerpt from Beijing Coma at BookBrowse, plus reading guide & reviews]