Renowned Chinese writer and script writer, Mrs. Xu Xiaobin (徐小斌), was invited to give one seminar and one fiction writing workshop in Cheng Yu Tung College from March 16th to March 18th.
In the seminar on “The Secret Path to the Spirit”, Writer Xu shared her life and writing experiences. She talked about one of her foremost works, Feathered Serpent. This beautifully portrayed epic family history spans one hundred years, from the 1890s during the later stages of the Qing Dynasty to the 1990s, traversing the experiences of five generations of women. When Writer Xu recalled her early times of writing, she said she couldn’t help herself but felt everlasting sorrowful for the characters created on her own. She also mentioned everyone should read as much as he can so to gain a better understanding of history, religion, and culture which will be essential and crucial to create a logical background for the fiction.
Mrs. Xu Xiaobin held a workshop for 10 CYTC student writers in the evening of 18th, tutoring students’ writing skills. While citing the students’ works, she referred also some of the renowned classic works as model. War and Peace, the Unbearable Lightness of Being, Dream of the Red Chamber are used in her discussion. Students felt very excited and lucky to participate in this fiction workshop. For many of them this was the very first time to write a fiction. “We truly learned a lot from Writer Xu. She described metaphors and similes in such an easy way for us to understand,” one of the students said.
Since her first literary works published in 1981, Wrier Xu has written more than 40 books altogether, including epical novels, novella, short stories, prose and TV scripts. The novel Feathering Snake, first published in 1998, has been re-published many times and translated into several languages. It is a novel with profound insight into female psychology, and a novel of mythical dimension. Feathering Snake was also the first foreign work that the renowned US publisher, Simon&Schuster published. Writer Xu other important works are Dunhuang Dreams, Princess Deling and “Pisces”. She is also a famous TV script writer and her works include “Princess Deling”, “The Legend of Tiger Token”, etc.
Famous Chinese Female Writer Ms. Xu Xiaobin