books review

Xiaolu Guo

Edinburgh International Book Festival

Brilliantly talented novelist and filmmaker Xiaolu Guo treated a rapt audience to a reading of an unpublished work, comprising a sequence of letters that evocatively portray Beijing through a series of reminisces. Xiaolu describes her own, highly unusual and semi-autobiographical style as attempts to get rid of the "historical shadows" that she feels lingers around so much of modern Chinese literature, and it is certainly a very different, and far more personal, image of China portrayed through her writing. The discussion that followed gave a good insight into Xiaolu's writing process and the problems with translating between English and Chinese. A captivating talk , and one that received the most enthusiastic applause I've heard from a book festival audience this year.

Peppers Theatre, 17 Aug, 6.45pm, fpp n/a

published: Aug-2008

[Sonya Hallet]


Related to this show's name

  • Journey To The East / Sonya Hallett talks to Book Director Catherine Lockerbie, as well as authors Xiaolu Guo and Jonathan Fenby, about the ‘Focus On China’ strand at this year’s Festival / FEATURE »
  • 3 to see: Book Festival tips / The ThreeWeeks’ Book Correspondents offer their tips for Book Festival 2008 / FEATURE »


Other articles you may find interesting

  • Journey To The East / Sonya Hallett talks to Book Director Catherine Lockerbie, as well as authors Xiaolu Guo and Jonathan Fenby, about the ‘Focus On China’ strand at this year’s Festival / FEATURE »
  • Window On The Fringe / Different Acts Every Day / REVIEW »
  • Edinburgh 365 / Scottish playwright David Harrower battles against Inverness’s mobile reception to talk to Jennifer McGregor / FEATURE »
  • The Festival Debate / REVIEW »



Rating Key

1/5: Bad     2/5: Mediocre     3/5: Good     4/5: Very Good     5/5: Excellent



Pot-luck Google Topics

Advertise here »
From ThreeWeeks - the complete guide to the Edinburgh Festival
Published by and © UnLimited Media 1996-2009 - www.unlimitedmedia.co.uk