shimmering sea : Hong Kong stories - Sophronia Liu - Bookniverse
shimmering sea : Hong Kong stories
Sophronia Liu
US $15.99
US $19.99
2013/04
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9789888227334
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PDF
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Proverse Hong Kong
copyAbout this book
View more文學 > 世界文學
tells of a quest for home, told through a vivid and lyrical sequence of narratives. Sophronia Liu chronicles first her beginnings in 1950s Hong Kong. Her parents – each an indigenous inhabitant of a clan village – had very different life-experiences from each other. Her father attended prestigious King’s College as a scholarship student; her mother, an illiterate peasant, was fully occupied in raising ten children. Among the episodes, some tell of her growing up during the 1960s: of a grade school classmate’s tragic suicide, the arrival of a rambunctious and feisty domestic helper from the countryside, plainclothes detectives who came to her home to solicit her father for a bribe. She tells of her mother’s long illness, of turmoil and quarrels among family members. Some twenty years later, when Liu was a student in the American Midwest, memories of these people and places flooded back to haunt her. Responding to their call, Sophronia eventually returned to Hong Kong in 2006, to live near her native village and continue to write. She died on 14 January 2013, one day after her 60th birthday.
About the author(s)
View moreSophronia Liu
Born in Hong Kong in 1953, SOPHRONIA LIU was the ninth child in a large Chinese family. Both her parents were indigenous villagers (Yuan Gue Min) from traditional clan villages in the Hong Kong New Territories, where the family still maintains a home. Sophie grew up with a sensitive awareness of the plight of women in traditional societies as well as an appreciation of her rural heritage. After attending both Catholic and Anglican schools in Hong Kong, she left Hong Kong in 1973, at the age of 20, to pursue further education in the United States, where she initially supported herself with scholarships and part-time work. She received a Bachelor’s Degree in English and French, and a Master’s Degree in English from the University of South Dakota. In 1983, Sophie arrived at the University of Minnesota to begin her doctoral studies in English. But her eagerness to explore the “wider world” led her to community organizing and theatre. In 1984, she was part of a multi-cultural ensemble performing with Spiderwoman Theater and At the Foot of the Mountain Theater in a ground-breaking play, Neurotic Erotic Exotics, based on the lives of seven women of colour. She also worked actively with women of colour and Asian American women scholars and activists at the National Women’s Studies Association (NWSA), spear-heading an anti-racism protest and mass walk-out from the organization’s national conference in 1990. Subsequently, Sophie worked as a translator and interpreter for Chinese immigrants, while teaching workshops in Asian American Literature to Minnesota teachers, and serving on the Board of a number of community organizations. As an actor and playwright, she has worked with Theater Mu, Theatro Latino, and other Minnesota theaters. She was also a singer, storyteller and solo performance artist, giving regular performances at various Twin Cities venues.Sophie returned to Hong Kong in early 2007 to teach in universities there, until she was stricken with cancer in 2010. She passed away in Hong Kong on 14 January 2012, one day after her 60th birthday. In response to a petition submitted to the College of Liberal Arts of the University of Minnesota by her academic Advisor, Regents Professor, Dr Madelon M. Sprengnether, Sophronia Liu has been awarded a posthumous PhD. in English for her writing project, "A Shimmering Sea: Hong Kong Stories". The date of the conferment: 26 April 2013.
About the publisher
View moreProverse publishes internationally from Hong Kong mainly high quality literary and general titles (novels, novellas, single author short story and poetry collections, poetry anthologies, biography and autobiography), also some travel, sport, young author, mixed genre, educational and academic works, and edited historical source materials. Proverse authors include local and international authors, native speakers of English as well as non-native speakers. Topics and settings vary between local and international. Publication modes are paperback, hardback, ebook and audiobook. Most books are in the English language, including translations into English. A number are in Chinese, and a couple in Italian, a few are bilingual (English/Chinese; English/Italian). Several titles received publication support from Hong Kong Arts Development Council and other cultural bodies in Hong Kong and elsewhere.In 2008, Proverse established theannual international Proverse Prize for unpublished book-length non-fiction, fiction or poetry submitted in English. In 2016, Proverse launched theannual international Proverse Poetry Prize for a single poem submitted in English. Both prizes open for entries no later than 7 May each year (closing date 30 June). Entries to both prizes are invited from anywhere in the world and are open to all over eighteen years old, whatever their nationality, residence or citizenship. Writers and poets from Hong Kong and many countries in the world participate. Winners have been both local and international.Beginning in 2009 and continuing, Proverse organises in central Hong Kong a Spring and an Autumn literary event, open to the public. In recent years, a parallel event, available internationally, is shown on Youtube.Of the titles published by Proverse, several have attracted a Preface or advance appreciation from figures of international reputation. Two Proverse authors have been best sellers, one (Peter Gregoire) in Hong Kong and the other (Nicholas Binge) in Spain.Further informationWebsite: htt[s://www.proversepublishing.comGillian Bickley, ‘The Proverse Prize, Journal of Postcolonial Writing, Vol 59, 2023 Issue 1. https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/TKVG8HZSZWX6R4CUJUKM/full?target=10.1080/17449855.2022.2101653Proverse titles page:https://cup.cuhk.edu.hk/ProversehkProverse Autumn Reception 2022 video (3rd edit): https://youtu.be/9L0L0AY6NGQProverse Youtube channel: youtube.com/@ProversePublishing
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