Qiu Xiaolong
| Qiu Xiaolong 裘小龙 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
1953 Shanghai, China |
| Period | 2000-present |
| Genre | Crime, poetry, translation |
| Notable awards |
Anthony Award for Best First Novel 2001 Death of a Red Heroine |
| Website | |
|
web | |
Qiu Xiaolong (Chinese: 裘小龙, /ˈtʃuː ˌʃaʊˈlɒŋ/; born Shanghai, China, 1953)[1] is an English-language poet, literary translator, crime novelist, critic, and academic,[1] currently living in St. Louis, Missouri, with his wife Wang Lijun and daughter Julia Qiu. He originally visited the United States in 1988 to write a book about T. S. Eliot, but following the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 a newspaper reported on his previous fundraising efforts for Chinese students, and he was forced to remain in America to avoid persecution by the Communist Party of China.[2]
He has published nine crime-thriller/mystery novels set in Shanghai in the 1990s at the point when the People's Republic of China is making momentous changes. These include Death of a Red Heroine, which won the Anthony Award for best first novel in 2001,[1] and A Loyal Character Dancer. All books feature Chief Inspector Chen Cao, a poetry-quoting cop with integrity, and his sidekick Detective Yu.[1] But the main concern in the books is modern China itself. Each book features quotes from ancient and modern poets, Confucius, insights into Chinese cuisine, architecture, history, politics, herbology and philosophy as well as criminal procedure.
Stay in Missouri
He was a guest lecturer at a university in Missouri in 1989.[3] Voice of America made a news report about him.[3] He had prepared spring rolls to raise money for Chinese students (and thereby embarrassed China's Government, according to Aftenposten).[3]
Bibliography
Detective Chen series
- Death of a Red Heroine (2000)
- A Loyal Character Dancer (2002)
- When Red Is Black (2004)
- A Case of Two Cities (2006)
- Red Mandarin Dress (2007)
- The Mao Case (2009)
- Don't Cry, Tai Lake (2012)
- Enigma of China (2013)
- Shanghai Redemption (2015)
Death of a Red Heroine, A Loyal Character Dancer and When Red is Black were adapted as BBC Radio 4 dramas, starring Jamie Zubairi as Chen and Dan Li as Detective Yu.
Other books
- Lines Around China (poetry collection) (2003)
- Years of Red Dust (2010)
Poetry translations
- Treasury of Chinese Love Poems (2003)
- Evoking T'ang (2007)