Sheng Keyi


Sheng Keyi is a contemporary Chinese novelist, short story writer, and artist.

Biography

Sheng Keyi is a contemporary Chinese novelist, she was born in a remote village in Yiyang, Hunan. She formerly worked in a securities company, and as a reporter, and editor, among many other occupations.
Sheng's works depict the real lives of China's poor, the survival of its women, and situations revolving around the human spirit, written in a language that is violent, enthusiastic, and experimental. Her writing has been praised by fellow Chinese authors Mo Yan, Yan Lianke and Yu Hua, and she has been reviewed and interviewed in international publications such as the New York Review of Books, The Guardian, Wall Street Journal, and LA Review of Books'. She has been awarded many prizes, including the Chinese People's Literature Prize, the Yu Dafu Prize for Fiction, the Chinese Literature Media Award and the Top 20 Novelists of the Future Prize. Her work has been translated into English and many other languages, including French, Italian, Spanish, German, Swedish, Russian, Czech, Polish, Japanese and Korean.
Her works include the novels ', ' and ', as well as the novella Paradise and several short story collections. Northern Girls, published in English by Penguin in 2012, was longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize. Death Fugue, banned for publication in mainland China, is a political allegory that “recalls Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World,” according to The New York Times, and “in a tradition that includes George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Philip K. Dick, Margaret Atwood and other keen critics of human folly,” according to The Washington Post.
Sheng's three recent novels, The Womb, The Metaphor Detox Centre, and Maid's Notes are part of a trilogy on the topic of women's destinies. The Metaphor Detox Centre, however, remains unavailable in mainland China and was released by Taiwanese publisher Linking Publishing.

List of works

Selected collections of short stories and novellas
Selected novels
  • Water and Milk, Shenyang: Chunfeng Literature and Arts, 2003.
  • Northern Girls, Wuhan: Changjiang Literature Press, 2004. English edition translated by Shelly Bryant: Viking Press .
  • Ode to Virtue, Shanghai: Literature and Arts, 2007.
  • Death Fugue, unpublished in China. Taipei: INK Publishing, 2012. English editions translated by Shelly Bryant: Giramondo Publishing and Restless Books .
  • The Jellyfish, Hefei: Anhui Literature and Arts, 2012.
  • Wild Fruit, Beijing: October Literature, 2014. English edition translated by Shelly Bryant: Viking Press .
  • The Metaphor Detox Centre, unpublished in China. Taipei: Linking Publishing, 2018.
  • The Womb, Taipei: Chiu Ko Publishing, 2019. Published as Breathing Earth in Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House, 2020.
  • Maid's Notes, Beijing: October Literature, 2020.