Yu Hua, one of China's best-known novelists and said to be the Chinese Hemingway, spoke to MSU students on Monday, Nov. 14, at the Procrastinator Theater at Montana State University.
His lecture, "A Writer's China," was free and open to the public as part of the MSU College of Letters and Science Distinguished Speakers Series.
Yu was born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province on April 3, 1960, and grew up during China's Cultural Revolution, an experience that defines his work. He has written four novels, six collections of stories and three collections of essays, including "Chronicle of a Blood Merchant" and "To Live," which was adapted into a film that was banned in China. His most recent book, "China in Ten Words", was published Nov. 8. He has been profiled in the New York Times Magazine and Wall Street Journal, among other publications.
Yu shared his observations, analysis and personal anecdotes about contemporary China. Allan H. Barr, who has translated several of Yu Hua's books, translated for Yu Hua at the lecture.
The MSU Department of Modern Languages & Literatures was the sponsoring department of the event.