Xinran, whose name means "doing something with pleasure," was born in Beijing in 1958. Following a severe upbringing during the Cultural Revolution, she became a successful Chinese journalist. For a decade, Xinran hosted a call-in radio show in which she invited women to share their life stories. "Words on the Night Breeze?became famous for its portrayal of what it means to be a woman in modern China. Xinran (pronounced Shin'-ron) won the trust of her callers who had been silenced by centuries of male dominance and by totalitarian oppression.Though China was experiencing a period of relative openness, Xinran constantly negotiated political minefields and was often threatened with censure and worse. After immigrating to the United Kingdom in 1997, she was able to relate many of these haunting stories in a book, titled The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices, which was released by Random House in 2002. Good Women has now been published in more than 30 languages and is acclaimed as an international bestseller.
Now a permanent resident of London, Xinran has written several books, including: Sky Burial: An Epic of Love in Tibet and Miss Chopsticks. Principia College will kickoff Xinran's U.S. book tour for her newest title, China Witness: Voices from a Silent Generation.
Xinran will speak in Principia's Wanamaker Hall at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 24. The program, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored collaboratively by the Vogel Moral Courage Lecture Series, the Deans' Diversity Committee, the Speakers Committee, and the 60th Annual Public Affairs Conference, titled "China Rising. |
