Sheng Xue
Sheng Xue or Reimonna Sheng (Chinese:
Background
[edit]Sheng Xue grew up in Beijing, and moved to Canada soon after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre.[citation needed]
Xue is a member of PEN Canada, and also a member of The Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC), both of which belong to International PEN. She is a member of the Writers in Prison Committee of ICPC.[citation needed]
Xue is the Canadian correspondent of Radio Free Asia and the North American correspondent of Deutsche Welle (Voice of Germany). She is also a regular commentator or columnist for a couple of media.[citation needed]
In 2001, she received the Canadian Association for Journalists Award for Investigative Journalism, and the Canada's National Magazine Award, for an investigative report, "The Smuggler's Slaves", on the lives of Chinese boat refugees published in the Canadian magazine Maclean's.[1][2][3] She is the first Chinese Canadian to win such prestigious awards.
In 2005, Sheng won the Journalism and Media Award from the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada,[4] for her outstanding achievements, contributions, and community service and in recognition of her efforts in promoting understanding the traditions and the interests of Chinese-Canadian communities, her leadership, courage and dedication for the promotion of multiculturalism, human rights, respect of human and cultural values, integrity and equality among all Canadians.
In 2001, Sheng Xue investigated China's most prominent smuggling case and published a book (in Chinese), Unveiling the Yuan Hua Case (simplified Chinese: “远华
A collection of Sheng Xue's poems (in Chinese), Seeking the Soul of Snow (simplified Chinese: 觅雪
United Writers Press also published a collection of Sheng Xue's essays (in Chinese), Lyricism From a Fierce Critic (simplified Chinese: 敌对
She also starred two Canadian movies, Small Pleasures (simplified Chinese: 浮云; traditional Chinese:
Sheng Xue was the Writer in Residence at Carleton University, Ottawa, in the winter of 2007,[9] the Writer in Residence at McMaster University for the winter of 2009,[3] and the Writer in Exile of Edmonton during September 2009 – August 2010.[9]
Sheng Xue is a key leader of overseas Chinese pro-democratic movement and is an outspoken critic of the Chinese government's human rights record. She is the chairperson of June 4 Massacre Investigation; Vice-Chairperson of The Federation for a Democratic China, Board member of Forum for Democratization of China and Asia. She established a group "Ten Dollar Can" in 2004, which is to encourage people to donate Ten Dollars per month and send to writers and journalists in prison, as well as other political prisoners, in China. She is also a founder of China Rights Network, a coalition of a number of organisations united by their opposition to the policies of the Chinese Communist Party, including Falundafa Human Right Association, Federation for a Democratic China, Students for a Free Tibet, Taiwanese Human Right Association of Canada, Tibetan Women's Association of Ontario, Tibetan Youth Congress, Uyghur Canadian Association, World Federalists of Canada, and others.[citation needed]
On September 29, 2012, during a function held in Sheng Xue's home by about 50 Asian political exiles to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Jason Kenney, on behalf of the Canadian government, awarded Sheng Xue the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.[citation needed]
On October 8, 2012, during the FDC's 11th Global Congress held in Budapest, Sheng Xue was elected as the Chairperson of Federation for a Democratic China.[citation needed]
Books
[edit]- Unveiling the Yuan Hua Case (simplified Chinese: “远华
案 ”黑幕 ; traditional Chinese: 「遠 華 案 」黑幕 ), Mirror Books, New York, USA, 2001. ISBN 962-8744-46-1. - Seeking the Soul of Snow (simplified Chinese: 觅雪
魂 ; traditional Chinese: 覓雪魂 ), United Writers Press, Hong Kong, Jan 2008. ISBN 978-988-17-2051-1. - Lyricism From a Fierce Critic (simplified Chinese: 敌对
抒情 ; traditional Chinese:敵對 抒情 ), United Writers Press, Hong Kong, August 2008. ISBN 978-988-17-2056-6.
All of these three books have been banned in China.
Starring
[edit]- Small Pleasures (simplified Chinese: 浮云; traditional Chinese:
浮雲 ), 1993 film, Canada. (Reimonna Sheng as Zhao Qing) - Chinese Chocolate (simplified Chinese: 落鸟; traditional Chinese: 落鳥), 1995 film, Canada. (Remona Sheng as Francis Huang)
- He Zhu Xin Pei (Chinese:
荷 珠 新 佩), 1997 stage drama in Chinese, Canada. (Sheng Xue as He Zhu)
Family
[edit]Grandfather Zang Qifang (Chinese: 臧啟
References
[edit]- ^ "The Best of the Best, Summer 2001: CAJ Award Winners". eagle.ca/caj/mediamag. Archived from the original on October 1, 2005. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
- ^ "Masthead News Archives, May 2001: CAJ winks at Maclean's—again". mastheadonline.com. 2001-05-29. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
- ^ a b Terry, Matt (2009-01-22). "McMaster welcomes new International Writer-in-Residence". mcmaster.ca. Archived from the original on 2011-07-06. Retrieved 2010-08-10.
- ^ "Names and Bio's of Honourees, page2". nepmcc.ca. Retrieved 2010-08-11.
- ^ Small Pleasures on www.imdb.com website
- ^ Yan Ming (Chinese: 严明): Pro-democracy activist becomes a star -- Sheng Xue and the movie she stars, Small Pleasures] (Chinese:
民 运女将 转眼成 了 明星 ——盛 雪 与 她参演 的 影 片 《浮云》), China Spring magazine (in Chinese), Sept. 1993, New York - ^ Chinese Chocolate on www.film.com website
- ^ Ya Yi (Chinese: 亚衣): Here too are passion and poetry (Chinese: 这里
也有 激情 和 诗意), China Spring magazine (in Chinese), July 1997, Page 74-82, New York - ^ a b "Sheng Xue chosen as PEN Canada City of Edmonton Writer in Exile (.pdf format)" (PDF). PEN Canada. 2009-03-23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 2010-08-10.
External links
[edit]- 1962 births
- Living people
- 21st-century Canadian poets
- Canadian writers of Asian descent
- Canadian activists
- Canadian journalists
- Canadian women poets
- Charter 08 signatories
- Chinese democracy activists
- Chinese emigrants to Canada
- Naturalized citizens of Canada
- Writers from Beijing
- 21st-century Canadian women writers
- Canadian women activists
- Canadian women non-fiction writers