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Da Chen

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Da Chen
Da Chen speaking at the North Carolina State University 2007 Convocation

Da Chen (1962 – December 17, 2019) was a Chinese-American author whose works included Colors of the Mountain, Brothers, and Sword. Colors of the Mountain gave rise to a version for young readers, China's Son,[1] and a sequel, Sounds of the River.[2] The Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, Miami Herald and Publishers Weekly hailed Brothers as the best book of 2006.[3]

Born in Huangshi, Putian, Fujian, China,[4][5] he grew up in poverty during the Cultural Revolution.[6] His paternal grandfather had owned land, and that wealth attracted the persecution of the Chinese Communist Party.[1] That persecution did not spare the rest of the family, and Chen was expelled from school and sent down to the countryside to do hard labor.[7] Even though the Cultural Revolution denied him much of his formal education, Chen studied for and performed well in the college entrance exams reinstated after the Cultural Revolution.[7] He was admitted to and graduated from Beijing Language and Culture University. After teaching there, he emigrated to the U.S. on a scholarship for Union College in Lincoln, Nebraska. In 1990, he received a J.D. from Columbia Law School,[8][9][10] and he then worked as an investment banker while writing.[7] After the publications of his memoirs, he also taught writing at Fairfield University and New York University.[1]

Chen lived in Southern California with his wife, Sunny, and two children.[5][11] Chen died December 17, 2019, at his home in Temecula, California, from lung cancer.[1]

Bibliography

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  • Colors of the Mountain (1999)
  • China's Son: Growing Up in the Cultural Revolution (2001)
  • Sounds of the River: A Memoir (2002)
  • Wandering Warrior (2003)
  • Brothers (2006)
  • My Last Empress (2012)[12]
  • Girl Under a Red Moon (2019)

See also

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References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Maughan, Shannon (January 2, 2020). "Obituary: Da Chen". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  2. ^ Charles, Eleanor (January 19, 2003). "The Guide". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 30, 2020. Da Chen to Give Talk[...]His memoir is titled, Color of the Mountain, and its sequel is Sounds of the River.
  3. ^ MFA in Creative Writing - Faculty Archived 10 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine - Fairfield University
  4. ^ Chen, Da (2006). A Montanha e o Rio (in Portuguese). Rio de Janeiro: Nova Fronteira. pp. dust jacket. ISBN 978-85-209-1992-7.
  5. ^ a b "Da Chen » Biography". dachen.org. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  6. ^ Kirch, Claire (May 31, 2019). "BookExpo 2019: Sisterhood Is Powerful for Children's Book Authors". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  7. ^ a b c Rogers, John (December 24, 2019). "'Colors of the Mountain' author Da Chen dies at 57". Associated Press. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  8. ^ "Da Chen". albany.edu. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  9. ^ "Biographies/Autobiographies/Memoirs" (PDF). Tucson-Pima County Library. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 2, 2017. Retrieved September 19, 2016. Da Chen recently graduated from Columbia Law School on a full scholarship.
  10. ^ "Summer Reading Recommendations". columbia.edu. Archived from the original on October 9, 2016. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  11. ^ The Random House "Author's Spotlight" of Da Chen. Retrieved 23 December 2006.
  12. ^ Ghosts, grief and great love in China by Da Chen, My Last Empress. Ahram.org. Reprint from Reuters. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 21 October 2012.


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