Lulu Wang | |
---|---|
Native name | 王露露 (Wáng Lùlù) |
Born | Beijing, China | 22 December 1960
Occupation | Writer, teacher |
Alma mater | Peking University |
Years active | 1997–present |
Website | |
www |
Lulu Wang (Chinese: 王露露; pinyin: Wáng Lùlù; born 22 December 1960) is a Chinese-born writer who has lived in the Netherlands since 1986. She is a best-selling novelist and also a columnist for Shijie Bolan (World Vision).
Lulu Wang was born on 22 December 1960 in Beijing, China. Her mother was a teacher of literature. At Peking University, Wang studied subjects including English language and literature.[1] After graduation, she taught at the university before moving to the Netherlands in 1986, at the age of 26;[2] there she taught Chinese at the Zuyd University of Applied Sciences in Maastricht.[1]
In 1997, she published her semi-autobiographical debut novel, Het Lelietheater ("The Lily Theatre"),[2] which is strewn with Chinese-language proverbs and rhymes translated into Dutch.[3] The novel sold over 800,000 copies in the Netherlands and earned her the Gouden Ezelsoor in 1998 for the bestselling literary debut work;[4] the following year, it won an International Nonino Prize at the Salzburg Easter Festival.[5][6] In 1997, she was noted to be the best-selling Dutch-language author.[7] The novel has been translated from Dutch into several languages, including English.[8][9]
"For a while, her name was virtually the only one an average Dutch reader could produce when asked to name a Chinese writer."[10]
Her 2010 novel, Wilde rozen is, like her debut, a book based on her life in China; this time, the main character is twelve-year-old Qiangwei, who grows up during the Cultural Revolution. Wang called it her most personal book yet.[11] In 2012, she published Nederland, wo ai ni, a book app containing animations, music, and a discussion forum, also available as an e-book; it was later published in a printed version as well. A second book app was published in 2013, Zomervolliefde, a bilingual Dutch and Chinese publication including poems, illustrations, a song, and a short movie.
In addition to being a best-selling author,[12] Wang works as a columnist for the international Chinese-language magazines World Vision (Chinese: 世界博览, pinyin: Shìjiè Bólǎn)[13] and World Affairs (Chinese: 世界知识, pinyin: Shìjiè Zhīshì).[14]