Xu Xi
Encyclopedia
Xu Xi,
Xu Xi, (originally named Xu Su Xi(许素细) (born 1954) is an English language novelist from Hong Kong
.
She is also the Hong Kong
regional editor of Routledge's Encyclopedia of Post-colonial Literature (second edition, 2005) and the editor or co-editor of the following anthologies of Hong Kong writing in English: Fifty-Fifty: New Hong Kong Writing (2008), City Stage: Hong Kong Playwriting in English (2005), and City Voices: Hong Kong Writing in English Prose & Poetry from 1945 to the present. Her work has also been anthologized internationally. Hong Kong magazines such as Muse
run her writings from time to time and her fiction and essays have appeared recently in various literary journals such as Wasifiri (London), Cutthroat: A Journal of the Arts (Durango, Colorado), Hotel Amerika (Chicago), Upstreet (Richmond, Massachusetts), and Asia Literary Review (Hong Kong).
. She speaks English
and Cantonese, even though those languages are not her parents' native languages. Her father traded manganese ore and her mother was a pharmacist. Xu started writing stories in English when she was a child. As an adult, she maintained a parallel career in international marketing for 18 years, working for several major multinationals, while writing and publishing fiction. She left corporate life in 1998.
Xu Xi is a graduate of the MFA Program for Poets & Writers
at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Now a U.S. citizen, she is on the low-residency MFA
fiction and creative nonfiction faculty at Vermont College in Montpelier
; she has served as faculty chair since 2009. As of 2010, she became writer-in-residence, at City University of Hong Kong
, where she established and directs the first, low-residency MFA which specializes in Asian writing in English.
named her a pioneer English-language writer from Asia and the Voice of America
featured her on their Chinese-language TV series "Cultural Odyssey." Her novel Habit of a Foreign Sky was shortlisted for the 2007 inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize. Her work was selected for the 2006 O. Henry Prize Stories collection and she was a South China Morning Post
story contest winner. She received a New York Foundation for the Arts
fiction fellowship, as well as several writer-in-residence positions at Chateau de Lavigny in Lausanne, Switzerland, Kulturhuset USF in Bergen, Norway and the The Jack Kerouac Writers in Residence Project of Orlando, Inc.
In 2004, she received the distinguished alumni award from her undergraduate alma mater, SUNY-Plattsburgh
and is the recipient of Ploughshares
2005 Cohen Award. In 2009, she was the Bedell Distinguished Visiting Writer at the University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program and she was the 2010 Distinguished Asian Writer at the Philippines National Writing Workshops at Silliman University, Dumaguete, Philippines."
Xu Xi, (originally named Xu Su Xi(许素细) (born 1954) is an English language novelist from Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
.
She is also the Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
regional editor of Routledge's Encyclopedia of Post-colonial Literature (second edition, 2005) and the editor or co-editor of the following anthologies of Hong Kong writing in English: Fifty-Fifty: New Hong Kong Writing (2008), City Stage: Hong Kong Playwriting in English (2005), and City Voices: Hong Kong Writing in English Prose & Poetry from 1945 to the present. Her work has also been anthologized internationally. Hong Kong magazines such as Muse
Muse (Hong Kong Magazine)
Muse is a bilingual Hong Kong-based multimedia publisher specializing in content related to Hong Kong's art and culture scene.. Until December 2010, Muse published an award-winning monthly arts and culture magazine...
run her writings from time to time and her fiction and essays have appeared recently in various literary journals such as Wasifiri (London), Cutthroat: A Journal of the Arts (Durango, Colorado), Hotel Amerika (Chicago), Upstreet (Richmond, Massachusetts), and Asia Literary Review (Hong Kong).
Biography
Xu Xi is an Indonesian Chinese raised in Hong KongHong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
. She speaks English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Cantonese, even though those languages are not her parents' native languages. Her father traded manganese ore and her mother was a pharmacist. Xu started writing stories in English when she was a child. As an adult, she maintained a parallel career in international marketing for 18 years, working for several major multinationals, while writing and publishing fiction. She left corporate life in 1998.
Xu Xi is a graduate of the MFA Program for Poets & Writers
MFA Program for Poets & Writers
The MFA Program for Poets & Writers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst is a graduate creative writing program.-History:The MFA Program for Poets & Writers was founded in the 1960s by poet Joseph Langland and is part of the English Department at the University of Massachusetts...
at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Now a U.S. citizen, she is on the low-residency MFA
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts is a graduate degree typically requiring 2–3 years of postgraduate study beyond the bachelor's degree , although the term of study will vary by country or by university. The MFA is usually awarded in visual arts, creative writing, filmmaking, dance, or theatre/performing arts...
fiction and creative nonfiction faculty at Vermont College in Montpelier
Montpelier, Vermont
Montpelier is a city in the U.S. state of Vermont that serves as the state capital and the shire town of Washington County. As the capital of Vermont, Montpelier is the site of the Vermont State House, seat of the legislative branch of Vermont government. The population was 7,855 at the 2010...
; she has served as faculty chair since 2009. As of 2010, she became writer-in-residence, at City University of Hong Kong
City University of Hong Kong
City University of Hong Kong is a comprehensive research university in Hong Kong. It was founded in 1984 as City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and became a fully accredited university in 1994. It has achieved fast growth in recent years and received international recognition for its academic achievements...
, where she established and directs the first, low-residency MFA which specializes in Asian writing in English.
Honors
The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
named her a pioneer English-language writer from Asia and the Voice of America
Voice of America
Voice of America is the official external broadcast institution of the United States federal government. It is one of five civilian U.S. international broadcasters working under the umbrella of the Broadcasting Board of Governors . VOA provides a wide range of programming for broadcast on radio...
featured her on their Chinese-language TV series "Cultural Odyssey." Her novel Habit of a Foreign Sky was shortlisted for the 2007 inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize. Her work was selected for the 2006 O. Henry Prize Stories collection and she was a South China Morning Post
South China Morning Post
The South China Morning Post , together with its Sunday edition, the Sunday Morning Post, is an English-language Hong Kong newspaper, published by the SCMP Group with a circulation of 104,000....
story contest winner. She received a New York Foundation for the Arts
New York Foundation for the Arts
The New York Foundation for the Arts was created in conjunction the in 1971. The organization gives grants to individual artists and writers and developing arts organizations with a mission to '.'-NYFA's Programs:...
fiction fellowship, as well as several writer-in-residence positions at Chateau de Lavigny in Lausanne, Switzerland, Kulturhuset USF in Bergen, Norway and the The Jack Kerouac Writers in Residence Project of Orlando, Inc.
The Jack Kerouac Writers in Residence Project of Orlando, Inc.
The Jack Kerouac Writers in Residence or Kerouac Project is a registered 501 non profit group in Orlando, Florida. The project provides aspiring writers to live in the house that Jack Kerouac lived in while writing his 1958 novel The Dharma Bums, rent free for 3 months.Kerouac lived in this home...
In 2004, she received the distinguished alumni award from her undergraduate alma mater, SUNY-Plattsburgh
State University of New York at Plattsburgh
The State University of New York at Plattsburgh is a four-year, public liberal arts college in Plattsburgh, New York. The college was founded in 1889 and opened in 1890. The college is currently part of the State University of New York system and is accredited by the Middle States Association of...
and is the recipient of Ploughshares
Ploughshares
Ploughshares is an American literary magazine founded in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, Ploughshares has been based at Emerson College in the heart of Boston...
2005 Cohen Award. In 2009, she was the Bedell Distinguished Visiting Writer at the University of Iowa's Nonfiction Writing Program and she was the 2010 Distinguished Asian Writer at the Philippines National Writing Workshops at Silliman University, Dumaguete, Philippines."
External links
- Xu Xi's Authors Guild site
- Xu Xi at Ploughshares
- "Xu Xi Interview", pif magazine, Derek Alger, May 30, 2003