Words At Large

Eleanor Wachtel travelled to China last week to interview some of Beijing’s prominent writers and artists. Her interviews will be featured this week on Writers & Company and also on her other CBC Radio program, Wachtel on the Arts.

Wachtel’s conversations with memoirist and journalist Lijia Zhang and poet Xi Chuan explore their responses to living in and writing about a city that is going to be the focus of all eyes during the Olympics this summer.

Born and raised in Nanjing, Zhang has written articles for many international publications, including South China Morning Post, Japan Times, the Independent, Washington Times and Newsweek. Although she grew up in the residential compound of her mother’s factory, she was eventually able to realize her dreams of becoming a journalist.

When Zhang went to buy the International Herald Tribune to read a review of her memoir, ironically titled Socialism Is Great!: A Worker's Memoir of the New China (Douglas & McIntyre), she found that the page was cut out of every single copy in Beijing.

Xi Chuan moved with his family to Beijing when he was four. Because his father was a soldier in the People’s Liberation Army, Xi was eligible to sit the exams for the country’s top school. Xi was able to study there for seven years, at a time when most students were being sent out into the countryside. He now teaches at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing.

Eleanor Wachtel spoke with Lijia Zhang in her colourfully decorated apartment and met Xi Chuan at his small studio. Listen to their conversations here:

First aired on Writers & Company. [runs 53:31]

Don't forget to check out more from Beijing in the special Wachtel on the Arts airing Tuesday, June 24 at 9 p.m. ET on Ideas.