Word: mins
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...just the past decade, Chinese émigré authors who have adopted other languages have gained prominent seats in the world's literary pantheon. Dai Sijie's Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, written in French, was an immediate best-seller in France and won five prizes. Anchee Min's 1994 English-language memoir, Red Azalea, was named a "Notable Book" of the year by the New York Times, and Ji-li Jiang's Red Scarf Girl, also a memoir written in English, won a number of children's book awards in America, including a gold Parents' Choice Award...
...Chinese emigre authors who received advanced education in the West are more likely to write in English. Both Ha Jin and Jung Chang hold doctorates from Western universities, and Da Chen, author of Colors of the Mountain, received a law degree from Columbia University. Anchee Min completed a master's in fine arts at the Art Institute of Chicago...
...Anchee Min says her decision to write in English was a matter of survival. When she moved to America in 1985, her written Chinese was limited to slogans and big-character posters. "Since both languages are new," she thought then, "perhaps it makes more sense to learn English since I'm in America." Min has written four books in English but still thinks and takes notes in Chinese. Chinese-American author Lisa See comments that "even though Min's English isn't 'perfect,' that roughness is very refreshing...
...Unlike Min, I have shifted in my writing from Chinese to English for the sake of creativity. Although I've been publishing in Chinese since age 14 and am more fluent and comfortable in Chinese, English enables me to write without self-censorship and worries about cultural land mines...
...Min agrees that a new language brings the mixed blessing of a new readership. "The disadvantage of being a Chinese author in America is that you are (in) a minority," she says. "People in general don't care about China. Publishers aren't sure if they can make money on a book with a Chinese theme. We'll be lucky to have a best-seller about China in America every three years...