Shan Sa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Pseudonym: | Shan Sa |
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| Born: | October 26, 1972 Beijing |
| Occupation: | Writer |
| Nationality: | French |
| Genres: | Romance |
Shan Sa is a French author born in Beijing in 1972. The Girl Who Played Go was the first of her novels to be published outside of France. It won the Goncourt Prize and earned critical acclaim worldwide. Her second novel to appear in English translation is "The Empress" (2006).
Shan Sa is also a celebrated painter with prominent exhibitions in Paris and New York.
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[edit] Biography
Shan Sa was born on October 26, 1972 in Beijing to an scholarly family . Her real name is Yan Ni Ni, then she adopted the pseudonym Shan Sa, taken from a poem of Bai Juyi. At age 8, she published her own poem collection. She obtained the first prize of the national contest of poetry for the children at 12 years, which event had surged an upheaval in the public. After graduating from secondary school in Beijing, in August 1990 she moved to Paris thanks to a purse of French goverment. She quickly adopted the language and settled there with her father who was a professor of Sorbonne University. In 1994, she finished her study of philosophy. She worked as a secretary of painter Balthus from 1994 to 1996. After that, she published the first two novels and a collection of poetry which met a pile of regards. Not until 2001 did she reach to top of success with the publication of her most famous book "The Girl Who Played Go" (a.k.a La Joueuse de Go). The book received good feedback from the readers and was awarded with a number of prizes, including the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens (Prix Goncourt of the High-school students).
[edit] Bibliography
- Porte de la paix céleste (Gate of Celestial Peace) (1997).
- Les quatre vies du saule (The Four Lives of the Willow) (1999).
- La Joueuse de Go (The Girl Who Played Go) (2001).
- Impératrice (Empress) (2003), based on the life of Empress Wu of Zhou
- Les conspirateurs (Conspirators) (2005)
[edit] Awards
- Winner of the Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman for Porte de la paix céleste (Gate of Celestial Peace) in 1998.
- Winner of the Prix Cazes-Brasserie Lipp for Les quatre vies du saule (The Four Lives of the Willow) in 1999.
- Winner of the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens (French Wikipedia) in 2001 and the 2004 Kiriyama Prize for fiction for La Joueuse de Go (The Girl Who Played Go).
