Guest of the ilb 2007, 2008
The son of an officer, Ha Jin was born Jin Xuefei in the northern Chinese town of Jinzhou in 1956. During the Cultural Revolution he joined the People’s Liberation Army and served for five and a half years along the Chinese-Soviet border. When the universities were re-opened in 1977, he studied English at Harbin University and subsequently American literature at Shadong University. In 1985 he went to Brandeis University on a scholarship to gain his doctorate. He finished the manuscript for his first book of poems, »Between Silences« (1990), three years later. After the bloody suppression of the student protest at Tiananmen Square in 1989, he decided to remain in the , where his wife and son later joined him. He attended the creative writing programme at Boston University, and, after working hard to earn a living, received a position as a lecturer of poetry, prose and English literature at Emory University. He has been an American citizen since 1997.
Along with three volumes of poetry, Ha Jin has published three collections of short stories and five novels, for which he was awarded several of ’s most significant prizes. Like Nabokov and Conrad, he chose to write in English, his second language, which he employs with a laconic, clear and reserved style. »I want to be an American author because the immigrant experience has always been a distinctive part of American culture.« Yet China (and the fictitious Muji City) long remained the setting of Jin’s stories, which show normal people in their day-to-day lives and explore how individuality is oppressed by social norms and political constraints. His first novel, »In the Pond« (1998) is a social satire which recounts the story of a Chinese factory worker who fights against the injustices enforced by his superiors until he is promoted, and finally conforms. »Waiting« (2000), the novel which earned Jin international renown, tells of a love story set in 1960s China, which shatters under the burden of traditions. »War Trash« (2004) recounts a Chinese soldier’s experiences in the Korean War. Captured by American troops he is caught between the fronts of the pro-Nationalists and the pro-Communists, and wittnesses boundless human cruelty from both sides. Ha Jin’s most recent novel, »A Free Life« (2007) is his first book set in the U.S. In it he takes on the experiences of first-generation Chinese immigrants as a theme.
The author’s numerous awards include the PEN/Hemingway Award, the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, which he received twice. Ha Jin works as a professor of creative writing at Boston University, and will be coming to Berlin in autumn 2008 as a fellow of the American Academy.
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