Journal created:
on 1 June 2005 (#7301981)
Updated:
on 14 April 2007
Name:
Anchee Min, Inspiring Authoress/Novelist
Website:
Membership:
Open
Posting Access:
Anybody , Moderated
I decided to create an LJ community devoted to my favorite authoress/novelist, Anchee Min. It's about time that this amazing woman is recognized for her works. My name is Jess. If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to contact myself or my co-moderator, 
syntheticka.
Biography of Anchee Min:
Anchee Min was born in Shanghai in 1957. At seventeen she was sent to a labor collective, where after a number of years a talent scout recruited her for Madame Mao's Shanghai Film Studio. Min came to the United States in 1984 and attended the Art Institute of Chicago. Her memoir, Red Azalea, was name a New York Times Notable Book of 1994 and was an international bestseller, with rights sold in twenty countries. Min is also noted painter, photographer and musician. She lives in California with her husband Lloyd Lofthouse and daughter Lauryann.
In Red Azalea, Anchee Min told the story of her childhood in the shadow of China’s Cultural Revolution. Banned in her native country and lauded in the United States, the book told of her struggles growing up in a family ravaged by the physical and psychological brutality of Revolution-era Chinese life. Ms. Min’s father was taken enough with Maoist oratory that he named her three siblings Blooming, Coral and Space Conqueror, while her mother was so exhausted by the daily tolls of her factory job that the children often had to revive her with cold washcloths and back massages. The young Min absorbed the meaning of the complex culture that surrounded her only after a series of painful childhood experiences, as a pre-teen star student, she was charged with a sense of mission - "Not for a day did I not feel heroic" - but at thirteen, she was forced to publicly denounce her favorite teacher, who had been accused of spying. At seventeen, she was chosen from the collective farm where she had been assigned to work to be an actress in government propaganda films. Soon after the death of Chairman Mao, she found herself sweeping theater floors. She escaped China only with the help of her actress friend, Joan Chen, who helped her immigrate to the United States.
Anchee Min's works include:
Non-fiction:
Red Azalea (1993) (Her personal memoir and autobiography)
Chinese Propaganda Posters (2003)
Fiction:
Katherine (1995)
Becoming Madame Mao (2000)
Wild Ginger (2002)
Empress Orchid (2004)
The Last Empress (2007)
syntheticka.Anchee Min was born in Shanghai in 1957. At seventeen she was sent to a labor collective, where after a number of years a talent scout recruited her for Madame Mao's Shanghai Film Studio. Min came to the United States in 1984 and attended the Art Institute of Chicago. Her memoir, Red Azalea, was name a New York Times Notable Book of 1994 and was an international bestseller, with rights sold in twenty countries. Min is also noted painter, photographer and musician. She lives in California with her husband Lloyd Lofthouse and daughter Lauryann.
In Red Azalea, Anchee Min told the story of her childhood in the shadow of China’s Cultural Revolution. Banned in her native country and lauded in the United States, the book told of her struggles growing up in a family ravaged by the physical and psychological brutality of Revolution-era Chinese life. Ms. Min’s father was taken enough with Maoist oratory that he named her three siblings Blooming, Coral and Space Conqueror, while her mother was so exhausted by the daily tolls of her factory job that the children often had to revive her with cold washcloths and back massages. The young Min absorbed the meaning of the complex culture that surrounded her only after a series of painful childhood experiences, as a pre-teen star student, she was charged with a sense of mission - "Not for a day did I not feel heroic" - but at thirteen, she was forced to publicly denounce her favorite teacher, who had been accused of spying. At seventeen, she was chosen from the collective farm where she had been assigned to work to be an actress in government propaganda films. Soon after the death of Chairman Mao, she found herself sweeping theater floors. She escaped China only with the help of her actress friend, Joan Chen, who helped her immigrate to the United States.
Non-fiction:
Red Azalea (1993) (Her personal memoir and autobiography)
Chinese Propaganda Posters (2003)
Fiction:
Katherine (1995)
Becoming Madame Mao (2000)
Wild Ginger (2002)
Empress Orchid (2004)
The Last Empress (2007)
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