The Emergence of a Writer, the Evolution of a Literary Scene: In Conversation with Wang Anyi

Abstract

For more than three decades, Wang Anyi has been at the forefront of China’s literary scene. Her novels The Song of Everlasting Sorrow, Love in a Small Town, and Brocade Valley have been regarded as classics of contemporary Chinese fiction. Moving beyond her fiction, this literary conversation took place before a class of two hundred university students at the University of California, Santa Barbara on May 12, 2016. The discussion begins with Wang’s formative years and discusses her influences, her experiences during the Cultural Revolution period through the early Reform Era, and her views on the contemporary Chinese literary scene.