The award is given to the author of a book length work of any genre for its originality, merit and impact, and that has broken new ground by reshaping the. Brilliant and illuminating, this astonishing debut novel by the awardwinning writer yiyun li is set in china in the late 1970s, when beijing. Summary in luminous prose, awardwinning author yiyun li weaves together the lives of unforgettable characters who are forced to make moral choices, and choices for survival, in china in the late 1970s. A native of beijing and a graduate of the iowa writers workshop, she is the recipient of many awards, including a penhemingway award. Her new novel, kinder than solitude, was published in february, 2014. Yiyun li s first fulllength novel, the vagrants, is another in a steadily growing line of chinese tales, in both fictional and memoir forms, from the terrifying, chaotic years of chinas cultural revolution. Yiyun li has 31 books on goodreads with 54552 ratings.
Centered on the aftermath of a young womans execution in a desolate part of china in 1979, yiyun lis grieving and unremitting first novel examines the costs and consequences of a society. Ann patchett a starkly moving portrayal of china in the wake of the cultural revolution, this book weaves together the stories of a vivid group of characters all struggling to find a home in their own country. From its opening lines, the world of yiyun lis first novel puts a reader in mind of notable others. Yiyun li, professor of creative writing in the lewis center for the arts at princeton university, has received the 2020 penjean stein book award for her novel where reasons end. It follows the lives of a host of characters from the power elite, down to the poorest vagrants. Yiyun li is the author of a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girl. Her stories and essays have been published in the new yorker, best american short stories, o henry prize stories, and elsewhere. But the modest setting and short time span belie this rich, expansive novel, which. Yiyun li on the lifechanging quality of literature read it. Yiyun li is the author of a thousand years of good prayers and the vagrants. The praise and awards garnered by that collection has put yiyun li on the american literary map, no small accomplishment for a recently arrived 1996 immigrant writing her stories, not in her native chinese, but in english, the language of her adoptive country. Ulf andersengetty images i n the summer and autumn of 2012, yiyun li, the awardwinning chineseamerican fiction writer, twice tried to kill herself.
Yiyun li, author of where reasons end, is also the author of four other works of fictionkinder than solitude, a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girland the memoir dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life. She has received fellowships and awards from lannan foundation and whiting foundation. Yiyun li is the author of six works of fictionmust i go, where reasons end, kinder than solitude, a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girland the memoir dear friend, from my life i write to you. Yiyun li receives penjean stein book award for originality. Her debut collection, a thousand years of good prayers, won the frank oconnor international short story award, penhemingway award, guardian first book award, and california book award. We try to keep bookbrowses biographies both up to date and accurate, but with many thousands of lives to keep track of its a tough task. Yiyun li has written a book that is as important politically as it is artistically. Y iyun li s 2005 debut story collection a thousand years of good prayers earned her comparisons with chekhov and alice munro. Brilliant and illuminating, this astonishing debut novel by the awardwinning writer yiyun li is set in china in the late 1970s, when beijing was rocked by the democratic wall movement, an anticommunist groundswell designed to move china beyond the dark shadow of the cultural revolution toward a more enlightened and open society. Dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life by. Yiyun li awarded the penjean stein book award iowa. She is an editor of the brooklynbased literary magazine a public space.
Yiyun li is the author of six works of fictionmust i go, where reasons end, kinder than solitude, a thousand years of good prayers, the vagrants, and gold boy, emerald girland the memoir dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life. Her prose is simple and direct and therein lies its power. Early in the book is the denunciation ceremony for gu shan. The vagrants by yiyun lia talented young writers chilling portrait of life in postmao china impresses stephanie merritt. Mar 03, 2020 yiyun li, professor of creative writing in the lewis center for the arts at princeton university, has received the 2020 penjean stein book award for her novel where reasons end. A thousand years of good prayers, 2005 takes place across a brief stretch of days in muddy river, a poor town hundreds of miles from beijing. Her debut collection, a thousand years of good prayers, won the frank oconnor international short story award and guardian first book award. Yiyun li grew up in beijing, china and moved to the united states in 1996. Read the vagrants, by yiyun li online on bookmate the novel from the guardian first book awardwinning chinese writer acclaimed by michel faber as having the talent, the vision and the respect fo. Dear friend, from my life i write to you in your lifenook book. If you are the publisher or author of this book and feel that the. Yiyun li, author, dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life, kinder than solitude, gold boy, emerald girl, the vagrants, a thousand years of good prayers.
She is the recipient of many awards, including a penhemingway award, a penjean stein book award, a macarthur foundation fellowship, and a. Buy the vagrants book online at low prices in india the. A native of beijing and a graduate of the iowa writers workshop, she is the. A mother loses a son to suicide, but their dialogue. She wrote of the experience in dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life, a series of enigmatic essays in which. Her debut collection, a thousand years of good prayers, won the frank oconnor international short story award, penhemingway award, guardian first book award, and california book. A native of beijing and a graduate of the iowa writers workshop, she is the recipient of a macarthur foundation fellowship, the frank oconnor international short story award, the hemingway foundationpen award, the. Her short stories and novels have won several awards and distinctions, including the penhemingway award and guardian first book award for a. She received an mfa from iowa writers workshop and an mfa in creative nonfiction writing from the university of iowa. In luminous prose, awardwinning author yiyun li weaves together the lives of unforgettable characters who are forced to make moral choices, and choices for survival, in china in the late 1970s. In 1991 li reported to xinyang to complete one year of.
Ann patchett, author of run every once in a while a voice and a subject are so perfectly matched that it seems as if this writer must have been born to write this book. In 2012, the novelist yiyun li twice tried to take her own life. Her novel, the vagrants, was shortlisted for dublin impac award. Yiyun li brilliant and illuminating, this astonishing debut novel by the awardwinning writer yiyun li is set in china in the late 1970s, when beijing was rocked by the democratic wall movement, an anticommunist groundswell designed to move china beyond the dark shadow of the cultural revolution toward a more enlightened and open society. In luminous prose, awardwinning author yiyun li weaves together the lives of unforgettable characters who are forced to make moral choices, and choices. A harrowing portrait of a womans execution by an oppressive chinese regime, and how her death affects an entire provincial town. Its hard to believe it has been over five years since i read gold boy, emerald girl yiyun lis second collection of short stories. Her short stories and novels have won several awards and distinctions, including the penhemingway award and guardian first book award for a thousand years of good prayers, and the 2020 penjean stein book award for where reasons end. Founded in 2016, the penjean stein book award is an annual award which recognizes a book length work of any genre for its originality, merit, and impact, which has broken new ground by reshaping the boundaries of its form and signaling strong.
The vagrants by yiyun li book cover, description, publication history. Dickens a tale of two cities and kafkas the trial, as well as shirley jacksons the. Feb 14, 2009 y iyun lis 2005 debut story collection a thousand years of good prayers earned her comparisons with chekhov and alice munro. She is the recipient of many awards, including a penhemingway award, a penjean stein book award, a macarthur foundation fellowship, and a windham. The vagrants by yiyun lichristopher tayler applauds a first novel. Mar 08, 2009 centered on the aftermath of a young womans execution in a desolate part of china in 1979, yiyun lis grieving and unremitting first novel examines the costs and consequences of a society. Her novel, the vagrants, won the gold medal of california book award for fiction, and was shortlisted for dublin impac award. I used to say that i was not an autobiographical writer that was a lie paul laity the chineseamerican author discusses her breakdown and facing up to the trauma of her past. Shortlisted for the 2011 international impac dublin literary award morning dawns on the provincial city of muddy river. The vagrants is set in the fictional small chinese town of muddy river in 1979, right after the end of the brutal cultural revolution.
Yiyun li s website this bio was last updated on 07182014. In 1991 li reported to xinyang to complete one year of service in the chinese army before going to college. Arriving a little early for our interview, i find yiyun li in the process of being photographed. Praise yiyun li has written a book that is as important politically as it is artistically. We are on the sixth floor of one of the newer buildings of princeton university, in the library of. Her earlier book, a thousand years of good prayers, is a collection of short stories. Yiyun li grew up in beijing and came to the united states in 1996. The novel from the guardian first book awardwinning chinese writer acclaimed by michel faber as having the talent, the vision and the respect for lifes. Since then, i have recommended them to a number of literary sorts, and i still think they have a unique and moving voice. Yiyun li, the author, was born in china in 1972 and grew up in the society she describes. Her debut collection, a thousand years of good prayers, won the frank oconnor international short story award, penhemingway award, guardian first book award, and california book award for first fiction. A native of beijing and a graduate of the iowa writers workshop, she is the recipient of the frank oconnor international short story award, the hemingway foundationpen award, the whiting writers award, and the guardian first book.
Yiyun li grew up in beijing and has lived in american since 1996. Yiyun li on the lifechanging quality of literature read. The award is given to the author of a book length work of any genre for its originality, merit and impact, and that has broken new ground by reshaping the boundaries of its form and signaling strong potential. Along with her parents and one sister, she lived in an apartment complex built as housing for employees of the department of nuclear industry, where her father worked as a physicist. I grabbed this book, her first novel, on a whim at the library. The vagrants, set in 1979 china, is the story of those affected by the execution of a 28yearold counterrevolutionary. A native of beijing and a graduate of the iowa writers workshop, she is the recipient of the frank oconnor international short story award, the hemingway foundationpen award, the whiting writers award, and the guardian first book award. Centered on the aftermath of a young womans execution in a desolate part of china in 1979, yiyun li s grieving and unremitting first novel examines the costs and consequences of a society. Though suffering, li s characters nevertheless struggle to maintain hope amid cruel circumstance. Buy the vagrants book online at best prices in india on. The vagrants, her first novel, depicts a comparable showdown with the authoritarian chinese state, but one that takes place on a smaller scale and at a more manageable distance in time and space. Her first novel, the vagrants, draws heavily on the art of the short. Yiyun li mfa, 2005 accepted the 2020 penjean stein book award at a march 2nd ceremony in new york, ny for her 2019 novel, where reasons end. In a city called muddy river, in the bledgray, hysterical paranoia of china postmao, postgang of four 197879, lives a loosely connected ensemble.
Y iyun lis 2005 debut story collection a thousand years of good prayers earned her comparisons with chekhov and alice munro. Yiyun lis the vagrants, published in 2009 by random house established the author as a new and welcome voice in american fiction the story is set during the cultural revolution in china near a. She has created a set of beautifully realised characters to etch out a picture of smalltown life, people we get to know well and to care about. Yiyun li is the winner of the prestigious hemingway foundationpen award. Her books have been translated into more than twenty. Yiyun li is the author of three novels, where reasons end, the vagrants and kinder than solitude, and two shortstory collections, a thousand years of good prayers and gold boy, emerald girl, as well as the memoir, dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life. Attendance is mandatory for most people and children. She is the author of two novels, the vagrants and kinder than solitude, two story collections, a thousand years of good prayers and gold boy, emerald girl, and a book of nonfiction, dear friend, from my life i write to you in your life. The short story writers gift for swift characterisation here translates into a panorama of. The stadium is filled, and there are hours of motivational speeches sermons.