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Wang Ping (author)
Encyclopedia
Life and education
Ping was born in ShanghaiShanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, and spent her childhood on an island of the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
in the East China Sea
East China Sea
The East China Sea is a marginal sea east of China. It is a part of the Pacific Ocean and covers an area of 1,249,000 km² or 750,000 square miles.-Geography:...
. Despite having only a few years of primary education, she was admitted to Beijing University, from which she was awarded a BA in English Literature. Ping emigrated to the United States in the following year, obtaining her MA in English Literature from Long Island University
Long Island University
Long Island University is a private, coeducational, nonsectarian institution of higher education in the U.S. state of New York.-History:...
. It was at LIU that a professor inspired her to write fiction. She obtained her PhD in Comparative Literature from New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
in 1999.
Writing
Ping is primarily a writer of poetry, fiction, non-fiction and translation. Her first publication was a collection of short stories, American Visa, in 1994. She followed this up in 1996 with a novel, Foreign Devil. Two poetry collections followed, Of Flesh & Spirit (1998) and The Magic Whip (2003). In 2000, she published "Aching for Beauty: Footbinding in China," hardcopy by University of Minnesota, then paperback by Anchorage in 2002. The same year, her translation of modern Chinese poetry came out from Hanging Loose Press: "New Generation: Poems from China Today." In 2006 Emperor Dragon, a traditional Chinese folk tale, was published. A second collection of short stories, The Last Communist Virgin, was published in 2007. Her latest translation of poetry was published by Zephyr: "Flashcards: Poems by Yu Jian."Ping's poetry, fiction and essays are frequently published in journals and anthologies.
Ping is also a photographer and multi-media artist. She had three photo and multi-media exhibitions since 2007: "Behind the Gate: China in Flux" at Janet Fine Arts Gallery, St. Paul (www.behindthegateexhibit.org), "All Roads to Lhasa" at Banfille-Locke Culture Center, and "Kinship of Rivers" at the Open Eye Figure Theatre (www.kinshipofrivers.org).
Academic career
Ping spent much of the 1990s as a writing instructor or poet in residence, and in 1999 obtained a position as assistant professor at Macalester CollegeMacalester College
Macalester College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1874 as a Presbyterian-affiliated but nonsectarian college. Its first class entered September 15, 1885. The college is located on a campus in a historic residential neighborhood...
. She is currently an Associate Professor of English at Macalester, and teaches courses in creative writing and poetry.
Awards
Ping has been the recipient of awards from the National Endowment for the ArtsNational Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1965 as an independent agency of the federal government. Its current...
, the New York Foundation for the Arts and the New York State Council for the Arts for poetry, the Minnesota State Arts Board for fiction, Bush Foundation for the Arts (poetry), McKnight Fellowship for creative non-fiction, Lannan Foundation residency in Marfa, Vermont Studio Center residency. Her books have won Eugene Kaden Award for the Best Book in Humanity, Fiction Award for the Asian American Studies, Minnesota Book Award.
Further reading
- Chinese Writers on Writing featuring Wang Ping. Ed. Arthur SzeArthur SzeArthur Sze is a second-generation Chinese American poet.-Background:Sze was educated at the University of California, Berkeley, and is the author of eight books of poetry...
. (Trinity University Press, 2010).