"I read what seduces me, I write what perverts me. "
- Heather Cai -
---"THE WHO" Series V Poster, 2020.5 | "谁“系列V海报
THE WHO is a basic series of maximum three intercultural creators being featured monthly in HeathersChamber.阿太的密室从2020年起每月开展”谁“系列亮出顶多三位跨文化的创作者。WHO can be artist, painter, writer, poet, editor, publisher, philosopher, photographer, designer, architect, scientist, filmmaker, musician, art collector, art dealer, antique dealer, founder of an art platform, a distinctive "qi pa", a grassroot off mainstreams, a daring storyteller, a soul catcher, or a street performer with a voice rumbling like the sea of storms."谁”可以是艺术家、画家、作家、诗人、编辑、出版商、哲学家、摄影师、设计师、建筑师、科学家、电影人、音乐家、收藏家、艺术品交易商、古董商、艺术平台创始人、有独特艺术见解的“奇葩”人物、非主流创意“草根”、勇敢无畏的说书人、心灵捕手、或激昂澎湃的街头艺人。So honored to announce THE WHO of May - "The May Flower" goes to the writer, journalist, public speaker and social commentator Zhang Lijia.五月的"谁“，"五月花“，很荣幸邀请到作家、记者、公众演说家和社会评论家张丽佳.
I'm not anti-government, I'm not a dissident, I'm just a writer, being truthful and critical is what I have to do.
“我不反政府，我不是异见人士，我只是一个作家，保持真实性和批判性就是我要做的。”
---Book Launching in Poland | 波兰签书会
--- Debut Novel Lotus Launching, 2017 | 首部小说《莲》发行
Specific Accomplishments 具体成就
“An inspiring example of promoting the understanding between China and Britain” ---Tony Blair, 1998 One of the “40 Beijing heroes” --- TimeOut Beijing, 2008 Subject of a BBC documentary Peschardt's People, 2009 Recipient of the prestigious International Writer’s Program, University of Iowa, sponsored by the US State Department, 2009
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Zhang Lijia was born in May 1964 and raised on the bank of the Yangtze River. At 16, she was pulled out of school to work at a factory that produced intercontinental missiles. As an escape, she taught herself English. To pursue her childhood dream of becoming a journalist and writer, she went to England in 1990 and earned a master’s degree in Creative and Life Writing from Goldsmiths, University of London. Back in China a few years later, she started her career as an assistant to foreign journalists before becoming a journalist of her own right. 张丽佳生于1964年5月，在长江河岸长大。16岁时，她被迫辍学到一家导弹火箭厂做苦工。为了逃脱沉闷森严的工厂生活，她自学英语。为了追求儿时的梦想当一名记者和作家，她于1990年前往英国，并从伦敦大学获得了创意生活写作硕士学位。几年后回到中国，她开始从事外国记者助理的职业生涯，后来成为了一名真正的记者。--- Young Zhang Lijia | 年少的张丽佳
Her features, often very human stories about the plight of China’s “little people”, have appeared in The South China Morning Post, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Independent, The Observer, Far Eastern Economic Review, Japan Times and Newsweek. She has lectured at many conferences, institutions and universities around the world, including Asia EU Economic Forum, European Institute for Asian Studies, The University of Columbia, Sydney, Stanford, Harvard and New York University. She is a recipient of the prestigious fellowship in the International Writer's Program at the University of Lowa. She is a regular speaker on the BBC, ABC (Australian), CNN, CBS, NPR and Channel 4.
她的专栏特写，通常是关于中国“小人物”困境的人类故事，刊登在《南华早报》、《纽约时报》、《卫报》、《独立报》、《观察报》、《远东经济评论》、《日本时报》和《新闻周刊》上。她在世界各地的许多会议、机构和大学演讲，包括悉尼大学、纽约大学、哈佛大学、斯坦福大学、哥伦比亚大学、欧亚研究所和欧亚经济论坛。她是爱荷华大学国际作家计划中著名奖学金的获得者。她是BBC、ABC（澳大利亚）、CNN、CBS、NPR和第四台的常邀嘉宾。
--- Being Interviewed by BBC | 英国广播电台采访Her critically acclaimed memoir Socialism Is Great! (2008) chronicled her decade-long experience at the rocket factory in the 80s, which is published in eight countries. Her debut novel Lotus, on prostitution in contemporary China, was published by Macmillan in 2017. Her journey from a factory worker to an international writer reflects the dramatic transformation that China has undergone. She is on top of the changes in the position of Chinese women and Chinese culture. Being one of the few Chinese who write regularly in English for international publications, she describes herself as a communicator between China and the world. 她08年出版并已在八个国家出版的、广受好评的自传《社会主义好》记录了她80年代在火箭厂做工长达十年的心路历程。她的首部小说《莲》于2017年由麦克米伦出版，讲述当代中国的卖淫问题。她从底层工人爬到国际作家的旅程反映了中国经历的戏剧性转变。这一蜕变让她踏入中国女性和中国文化地位变化的顶端。作为极少数用英语为国际知名报社撰稿的华人之一，她形容自己是中国和世界沟通的桥梁。
--- With former British PM Sir John Major | 与英国前首相John Major 合影| “If David Copperfield had been a Chinese girl in the 1980s, in the city of Nanjing, he might have ended up on the assembly line at Liming Machinery Factory, under the authority of the Ministry of Aerospace Industry, making missiles capable of reaching North America. Has the blacking factory ever seemed so benign in comparison? In ‘Socialism is Great!’ Lijia Zhang has written a beautiful memoir of this important period, when China began to recover from its political traumas and open to the outside world. Our current China literature is heavy with victim memoirs, but this is a true tale of aspiration: a young woman coming of age in a nation desperately trying to do the same.” ---Peter Hessler, Bejing correspondent for The New Yorker and author of Oracle Bones and River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze.“如果大卫·科波菲尔在上世纪80年代是一个中国南京女孩，他可能最终会在航天工业授权下的利明机械厂的装配线上制造能够到达北美的导弹。与之相比，黑化工厂是否看上去如此温和？《社会主义好》是张丽佳描述了这一重要时期的精彩回忆录。当时中国开始从政治创伤中恢复对外开放。我们当前的中国文学充满了受害者回忆录，而这个真实奋发的故事正讲了一位年轻女子在一个绝望又复苏的国家寻求心灵生机。---彼得·赫斯勒，《纽约客》的北京记者，《甲骨文和河城：长江两年》的作者。 |
“Socialism is Great!”
A fascinating glimpse into what life and love is really behind the bamboo curtain (Glyn Ford - Tribune)
一个竹帘背后真正生活与爱的迷人一瞥（格林·福特 - 美国论坛）
Three generations of women in Zhang Lijia’s family went from illiteracy and bound feet to a state-owned factory and finally to the broader world beyond the confines of Nanjing, China. In between, Lijia herself transitioned from a factory girl to a prominent journalist and bestselling author of Socialism is Great!. Her family’s story illustrates the great changes that Chinese people and especially Chinese women have made over the last half century. But the great challenges confronting Chinese women remain in the 21st century.张丽佳家中三代女人从裹脚文盲走向了国有工厂，最终走向了中国南京以外更广阔的世界。期间，丽佳自己从一名女工跳到一名出色的记者和《社会主义好》畅销书作者。她的家庭故事折射出当时中国的社会面貌和变迁，说明了中国人民，尤其是中国女性在过去半个世纪里所做的巨大改变。但21世纪中国女性面临的巨大挑战仍然存在。
--- Being Interviewed by CNN | 美国有线电视新闻采访I wanted to tell the story of a survivor, not a victim.
我不想塑造一个受害者，我想写就一个生存者。
Reviews 评论
“Ambitious… Zhang’s memoir, with its arc of resistance and personal struggle, begins where [Jung Chang’s Wild Swans and Nien Cheng’s Life and Death in Shanghai] leave off.”—The New York Times Book Review “‘Socialism is Great!’ is a riveting tale.”—The Wall Street Journal Asia“Her quest for freedom…[is] a tale that crackles with insight and wit.’”—The Washington Post"Gentle, funny and wry."— Arundhati Roy, author of God of Small Thing“Required reading.” —Amitav Ghosh, the author of The Sea of Poppies“A literary gem.”—Da Chen, author of Colors of the Mountain"Truly original.... A sharply observant and admirably crafted memoir."—Jonathan Spence, author of The Death of Woman Wang |
“Lotus”
Named one of the best books of 2017 by NPR's Book Concierge
被“NPR图书管理员”评为2017年度最佳图书之一
Lotus is a fictional story centred on the life of a brave young woman who moves from her mountain village in Sichuan to the bustling metropolis of Shenzhen in search of a new life. Eventually, Lotus must turn to prostitution to survive. The novel details the effects of the region’s illicit sex trade, police brutality, and social corruption on the lives of its ordinary people. This is reflective of how Zhang talks of prostitution “as an interesting window to observe social tensions brought by the reforms in recent decades, such as the rural-urban divide, the growing gender inequality and the tug of war between the tradition and the modernity.” ---Varsity, independent newspaper for the University of Cambridge 摘选自 剑桥大学独立报 Varsity
小说《莲》是个以一名勇敢年轻女子的生活为中心的虚构故事。她从四川的山村搬到深圳的繁华大都市，寻找新的生活。最后，无奈转向卖淫才能生存。它生动描述了该地区非法性交易、警察暴行和社会腐败对普通人生活的影响。反映了张丽佳如何谈论卖淫“作为一个有趣窗口，观察近几十年来中国改革所带来的社会紧张局势，如城乡差距、性别不平等和传统与现代之间的拔河斗争。”
--- Being interviewed in Lithuania for the Lithuanian edition of Lotus. Zhang Lijia attracted a lot of media attention, being the first Chinese writer to be translated into Lithuanian. | 在立陶宛接受立陶宛版《莲》的采访。张丽佳是第一位被翻译成立陶宛语的中国作家，引起了媒体的广泛关注。
I want to show the crude reality of the Chinese market economy and the resilience of women struggling in the bottom of society.
我想展示中国市场经济的粗陋现实，以及在社会底层挣扎中女性的坚韧。
Reviews 评论
"'A Newborn Calf Isn't Afraid of Tigers' is a typical chapter title in Lotus, Lijia Zhang's compelling debut novel. Readers will find the entire text rich in Chinese proverbs, as well as folk wisdom of a more prosaic variety. Characters employ sage sayings in spoken form, as a kind of parlor game, and the author scatters aphorisms liberally throughout the narrative, with an effect that is both charming and thought-provoking....Some first novels, especially those birthed in creative writing classes, go heavy on self-consciously poetic language ...The images Zhang gives us, in contrast, are uncomplicated, concise and touching" — NPR
"I was very touched by the story of this lowly sex worker’s noble pursuit in finding her own path and her own worth. As a writer who writes in both Chinese and English, I find the prose, spiced by Chinese sayings, deliciously refreshing." — Geling Yan, celebrated Chinese author of several acclaimed books, including The Flowers of War and Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl, which have been adapted for the screen
“Lotus is a rollicking, sexy novel, but it’s not just another fun read. The novel provides so much insight into the underside of China’s roaring economy and the immense pressure on young migrants to get rich quick. In Lijia Zhang’s tour of the sex industry, you’ll find not only sleaze, but soul.” — Barbara Demick, author of the National Book Award finalist Nothing to Envy and former China bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times
"Lotus is a wonderfully readable and perceptive novel about an aspect of contemporary China that remains largely invisible to the outsider. Although it pulls no punches it is saturated with the spirit of stoic optimism that sustains millions of rural migrants around the world." — Amitav Ghosh, author of the bestselling Ibis trilogy and the Man Booker Prize finalist Sea of Poppies
"In this sensitive novel about a young prostitute, Lijia Zhang gives us a window into a China that few people—inside or outside the country—can imagine: a land of underground sex trade, corrupt police, desperate migrants, and flawed characters trying to make the right decisions. This novel is a deep dive into China's spiritual crisis, and how people are looking for answers in religion and through acts of kindness and courage in their daily lives." — Ian Johnson, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao
"With expert pacing and description, Zhang vividly draws Lotus' present and past, weaving together time lines, characters, and subplots that eventually reveal Lotus to be far more than the sweet, reserved girl she appears to be. At once immersive and delicate, Zhang's writing takes Lotus to unexpected places as she searches for—and perhaps finds—what true freedom means." — Booklist
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“Sex”
--- Interviewed by Sarah Costa at Spittoon Beijinger | 与北京Spittoon文学杂志采访记者合影"The Chinese are increasingly adventurous in their sex lives. It's only been a few decades since Chinese women carefully unbuttoned their conservative coats. As the term of mistress in China today, ErNai is closely related to business activities. Because having multiple mistresses is a sign of merchant strength. And Chinese sex has been suppressed for too long. In fact, the growth of wealth, deregulation, lack of sexual knowledge or education, the rise of the sexual revolution, and the legacy of conservative culture all make men feel that sex workers are more experienced and skilled to some extent. And this ancient mentality also continues to the present, so-called the rich men's ErNai. Like an old Chinese saying, ‘Those who are well-fed and well-clad are inclined to be lustful’. As a result, the sex industry never stops flourishing."“中国人在性生活上越发具有冒险精神。中国女人小心翼翼地解开保守的外衣也不过才几十年的时间。'二奶'作为当今中国对情妇的称呼，与商业活动密切联系。因为拥有多个情妇是商人实力的标志。而中国人的性被压抑太长时间了。事实上，财富的增长，管制的放松，性知识的匮乏，性教育的缺失，性革命的崛起，以及保守文化的沿袭，都在一定程度上让男人觉得性工作者更有经验也更有技巧。而这种古老的心态也延续到了现在，正所谓有钱男人的'二奶'。就像中国的一句老话：温饱思淫欲。因此，性服务业一直欣欣向荣。”
--- Being Interviewed by Polish Media | 接受波兰媒体采访Lotus is indeed a novel of social criticism. The recent transformation has driven some of the most vulnerable women to take up the flesh trade, just like Lotus.
《莲》的确是一部社会批判小说。 近年的社会转变促使一些最脆弱的妇女像莲一样从事性交易。
--- With Amy Tang at HK Literary Festival | 香港文化节上与Amy Tang 同台讲座Zhang likes to portray women as three-dimensional human beings with sexual desires. She founds it quite interesting that some women have experienced sexual pleasure that they could never have experienced with their husbands. Some felt bad about it as they regarded their work as "dirty" and it felt wrong to get pleasure out of this disgraceful job. This is one of the reasons that Lotus turns to Buddha – to cleanse herself in the "Capital of Sins". 张丽佳喜欢把女性描绘成有性欲的三维立体人物。她发现，有些女人经历了她们从未与丈夫经历过的性快乐，这是非常有趣的。其中部分女人很难过地认为她们的工作是“肮脏的”，从这份不光彩的工作中得到快乐是错误的。这便是莲皈依佛门的原因之一，在“罪恶之城”中净化自己。
--- Speaking to the Foreign Correspondent Club in Shanghai, 2020 | 在上海外国记者俱乐部讲座“Lotus is about giving a voice to women who don’t publicly have a voice,” Zhang explains, “I met a woman who was a victim of domestic violence, but her family would not take her in, forcing her to become a sex worker to survive.”
张丽佳解释道：“《莲》是为了让那些没有公开发言权的女性有发言权。我遇到了一个家庭暴力的受害者，因她家人不会接纳她，迫使她成为一名性工作者。”--- Zhang Lijia at Shanghai Leadership Toastmasters Club, where we met, 2020.1.15 | 上海头马特别邀请张丽佳作主讲嘉宾分享，感恩遇见For the stigmatisation of sex workers, Zhang wants to “humanise” their stories, “return their humanity, and inspire people to see them in a new way.”对于性工作者的耻辱污名，张丽佳想把她们的故事“人性化”，“搏回他们的人性，并激励人们以一种新的眼光看待她们”。
--- Speaking at the Sky News Live | 在英国天空新闻台现场发言
“Writing”
“The freedom to create a fictional world was both exciting and intimidating.” Freedom also takes on another meaning in the context of contemporary China when it comes to censorship. After a previous book in Chinese about the Western image of Chairman Mao being censored, Zhang decided to write in English in order to “freely express” herself. This helped Zhang overcome another type of censorship that was not political, but rather “a writer’s own self-censorship”.“创造一个虚构世界的自由既令人兴奋又令人恐惧。”在当代中国，涉及到审查时，自由也具有另一种意义。在早期有一本关于毛主席西方形象的中文书被审查后，张丽佳决定用英语写作，实现“自由表达”。这帮她战胜了另一种不是政治审查，而是“作家本身的自我审查”。
--- Zhang Lijia at China Speakers | 在中国名人演讲台现场交流“By writing in English, I gained unexpected literary freedom. Without being inhibited by my mother tongue, I can be bold as I experiment with the language. I use different words and I structure my sentences differently, consciously and unconsciously. Of course, my experiment doesn’t always work. But I enjoy the adventure.”“通过用英语写作，我获得了意想不到的书面自由。不受母语的限制，我可以大胆地尝试组织语言，使用不同的单词，有意识或无意识地更换句子结构。当然，有时会失败。但我喜欢冒险。”--- Zhang Lijia at TEDx MongKok | 在TEDx MongKok 演讲Throughout her journey, Zhang draws upon many literary inspirations. She cites George Orwell’s four reasons for writing: egoism, aesthetic enthusiasm, historical impulse, and political purpose, as key drivers of her motivation to write. In particular, she remains drawn to Jane Eyre, “a plain-looking character full of spirit and longing”. In more recent years, she mentions how reading her MA professor Blake Morrison’s memoir And When Did You Last See Your Father shaped the techniques she had used to complete her own memoir.在她的创作过程中，张丽佳借鉴了许多文学灵感。她引用乔治·奥威尔写作的四个原因作为她写作动机的关键驱动因素，即自我主义、审美热情、历史冲动和政治目的。特别是，她仍被《简爱》吸引，“一个朴素的性格，充满了精神和渴望”。她还提到最近几年如何看她的硕士教授布莱克·莫里森的回忆录，《崎路父子情》让她学到了技巧完成了她自己的回忆录。--- Zhang Lijia at the Madrid Confucius Institute Readers' Exchange | 马德里孔子学院读者交流会Following the success of Lotus, Zhang is now turning her focus back towards non-fiction. She is working on a narrative non-fiction book about the children of migrant workers in China, also known as their ‘left-behind’ children. “There are currently 61 million children living in villages across the country without both or one parent,” she says. The book will focus on a rural community in Southwest China’s Guizhou province, to examine the human cost of China’s economic miracle. As preparation, “I am reading or re-reading outstanding literary non-fiction books on China, such as Wish Lantern by Alec Ash and Factory Girls by Leslie Chang.”继《莲》成功之后，张丽佳现将注意力转回非小说。她正在叙写一本关于中国农民工子女即“留守”儿童的非小说故事。她说：“目前全国有6,100万儿童生活在没有双亲或单亲的村庄里。这本书将集中在中国西南部贵州省的一个农村社区，以考察奇迹般的中国经济背后人们付出的代价。作为准备，“我正在阅读或重新阅读关于中国的优秀文学非小说书籍，如亚历克·阿什的《愿望灯笼》和张彤禾的《打工女孩》。”
--- Zhang Lijia at Home | 随性精致的张丽佳
As for aspiring writers, Zhang’s words of advice is to just “read and write and live your life.”
至于胸怀抱负的作家，张丽佳的建议就是“读、写、生活”。
更多信息，浏览 https://zhanglijia.com
Note: Contact Heather (ID: Heather69) if you‘ll buy a copy of Zhang's books.
备注：如果你想买张丽佳的书，记得联系阿太哦（微信：Heather69)
--- Zhang Lijia Traveling in Cuba | 张丽佳古巴旅行
Text Advisor 文字导师 | Mike Clark
THE WHO | "谁“系列
THE WHO | "谁”系列 I
THE WHO | "谁“系列 II
THE WHO | "谁”系列 III
THE WHO | "谁“系列 IIII
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Heather is the daughter of a subsistence rice farmer from Fujian Province, China. She tells stories from her experience as one of the poorest. She writes her dream to share with the world, a very personal place. She has now written two English literary novels and is looking to being published in the UK. Her passion is a splendid cocktail or milkshake of word, image, music and art. She likes collecting books, DVDs, papers, stones, shells and leaves. She desires for all forms of natural beauty.
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