HA JIN
“I wrote in English as a form of resistance”
A sudden rainshower during early autumn in Berlin prompted writers and literary figures from various countries to seek shelter under the author’s tent. They stood close to each other in protection of the cold wind that blew across the tent, drinking and refilling their wine.
Last September, the Berlin International Literaturfestival featured many names normally found in book racks, such as Elif Shafak, Kazuo Ishiguro, Roddy Doyle, Michael Cunningham, Wole Soyinka and Martin Amis, as well as Ha Jin, a literary figure from China, now living in exile in the United States. All day long, he was surrounded by journalists.
From more than 100 such luminary writers, Ha Jin may be the least among to be aware of his own stardom. Having produced collections of short stories and seven works of fiction, he has won a number of prestigious awards, among them the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short dan Fiction and the PEN/Hemingway Award. His novel, War Trash, won the PEN/Faulkner Award, placing him in the same status as American authors Philip Roth and E.L. Doctorow. (more…)