Parents Yu Ping, Xiao Ma Role Writer | Name Geling Yan Notable works A Woman's Epic Siblings Yan Ge Pin | |
 | ||
Born November 16, 1958 (age 65)
Shanghai, China ( 1958-11-16 ) Spouse Lawrence A. Walker (m. 1992) Movies The Flowers of War, Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl, Dangerous Liaisons, Forever Enthralled, Siao Yu Books BANQUET BUG - THE, The Lost Daughter of Happin, White snake and other stori, The uninvited, The Banquet Bug Similar People Zhang Yimou, Joan Chen, Hur Jin‑ho, Liu Heng, Chen Kaige | ||
Occupation novelist, screenwriter | ||
An Evening with Yan Geling 严歌苓
Geling Yan (simplified Chinese: 严歌苓; traditional Chinese: 嚴歌苓; pinyin: Yán Gēlíng; born 1958) is a prominent Chinese writer, author of several novels, short stories and screenplays. Much of her work has been adapted for film. She is currently represented by the Hong Kong-based Peony Literary Agency.
Contents
- An Evening with Yan Geling
- Profile of geling yan aka or
- Early life
- Works
- Novels in English
- Short stories in English
- Title
- Education background
- Personal life
- References
Profile of geling yan aka or
Early life
Yan was born in Shanghai, China in 1959. She is the second child of Yan Dunxun and Jia Lin. She has an elder brother Yan Geping (严歌平). Her father is an alumnus of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University.
Yan began performing as a dancer at age 12. She served in the People's Liberation Army during the Cultural Revolution, in Tibet and later as a journalist in the Sino-Vietnamese War, achieving a rank equivalent to lieutenant colonel.
Works
Her first novel was published in 1985. She is the author of such novels as The Banquet Bug (published as The Uninvited in the UK) and The Lost Daughter of Happiness, as well as a story collection entitled White Snake and Other Stories. Several of Yan's works have been adapted for film, including Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl, which was directed by Joan Chen, and Siao Yu, directed by Sylvia Chang and screenplay co-written by Ang Lee. Zhang Yimou, the Chinese director of To Live and Raise the Red Lantern adapted her novella 13 Flowers of Nanjing to the screen as The Flowers of War, and his movie Coming Home was based on Yan's novel The Criminal Lu Yanshi. She has worked on other scripts including a biography of Mei Lanfang, the Peking opera star, for Chinese director Chen Kaige.
Novels in English
Short stories in English
Title
She is a member of the Hollywood Writer's Guild of America and the Writer's Association of China.
Education background
Yan holds a bachelor's degree in literature from Wuhan University, and a Master's in Fine Arts in Fiction Writing from Columbia College Chicago.
Personal life
Yan's ex-husband is Li Kewei; they divorced in the 1990s. In 1992, Yan married her second husband Lawrence Walker in Los Angeles. Walker is a diplomat. They have no biological children together, but have adopted a Chinese daughter, Yanyan.