By Dana Mikaelian<\/p>\n
CAS Creative Writing Professor Ha Jin didn\u2019t plan on being a fiction writer. He moved to the United States from China in 1985 to study American Literature. He always intended to return to China, and didn\u2019t give a writing career much thought. However, the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 forced a change of plans. Since then, he has become a successful contemporary poet, novelist, and short story writer whose work has earned him the National Book Award, the PEN\/Faulkner Award, the PEN\/Hemingway Prize, and, most recently, an invitation to join the prestigious Academy of Arts and Letters.\u00a0In a recent interview with CAS News, the decorated author discussed how his experiences during the Cultural Revolution in China, and his subsequent years in the United States, have influenced his work and career.<\/em><\/p>\n <\/b>CAS News: Tell me a little about where you grew up and what inspired you to become a writer.<\/b><\/p>\n Ha Jin:<\/b> I grew up northeast of China and didn\u2019t think I\u2019d become a writer. My father was a [military] officer, so I went to the Chinese Army quite early to serve; I left after five years. I then worked at a railroad company for three years, and then I went to college. During the Cultural Revolution, no colleges were open. So for 10 years we couldn\u2019t go to college\u2014hence the big interruption. After that I became an English major and continued to study American literature. I got my Master\u2019s at Shandong University in China and then I came to the United States to attend Brandeis University. [In 1989] the Tiananmen Incident took place [in China], so I couldn\u2019t go back. That\u2019s why I stayed here and began to write in English. It was almost like all the different forces drove me to become a writer.<\/p>\n What made you want to study American literature?<\/b><\/p>\n In the early \u201880s, Faulkner and Hemmingway and the Jewish writers became very popular. Very few people had access to the original works, so even the professors would give us lectures by borrowing ideas from different sources. I thought someday if I worked hard on [the English language] I could eventually read the originals. That was the very basic reason why I wanted to study American writers.<\/p>\n You mentioned that you really didn\u2019t begin writing until you came to the U.S.<\/b><\/p>\n I\u2019d been writing, but not seriously. Even in the States I wasn\u2019t that serious. Before I became to BU I published a book of poems in English, but I thought I\u2019d return to China to teach American literature\u2014that would be my profession. I was half-hearted. Not until Emory University hired me to teach poetry writing in 1993 did [writing] become a profession, so I had to become really devoted. I had to study the craft and also had to keep publishing to survive in academia.<\/p>\n Did teaching at Emory develop your love of writing?<\/b><\/p>\n I always liked writing, but I didn\u2019t know my direction. I didn\u2019t know how long I\u2019d be in the States, whether I should eventually write in English or Chinese. But in the early \u201890s I realized I couldn\u2019t go back [to China] so I decided to write in English. It was a quite rational switch. I\u2019d been writing in English for a while because I had to do dissertations, so I also wrote poems in English. But I couldn\u2019t see the big picture at the time.<\/p>\n Is there a difference between writing in English and Chinese?<\/b><\/p>\n In China, most full-time writers often write for their bosses\u2026 There is a lot of leisure, but more limitations and restrictions. In the US we don\u2019t have that. You have to earn your own publishings. You have to write what you really love, and invest so much energy and life in it. The approaches to writing are very different.<\/p>\n Also, there is a big difference in style. Chinese is a language more \u201cFrench\u201d than French. The separation between speech and the written word is very clear. There are hundreds of dialects spoken in China, but when you come to the page it\u2019s the same language. It\u2019s a very different literary language. So, if I wrote in Chinese I\u2019d have to echo that; I\u2019d have to be aware of the weight of the tradition. But English is different. Any dialect is acceptable. It upsizes the coziness of the natural speech. So English has more vitality; it\u2019s more inclusive.<\/p>\n Though you write in English, most of your work takes place in China. What is it like writing about this place where you grew up, that you can\u2019t return to, in the US?<\/b><\/p>\n I haven\u2019t returned to China for almost 3 decades; I haven\u2019t even seen my parents since then. So it means that in the recent decades I may not be familiar with small details\u2014material sensations, everyday life. The big picture is clear since I follow the news, but these small details and texture of daily life are absent. So in a way I\u2019ve been forced to look for different subjects and different kinds of topics. They often [take place] between China and the US, or in the past or somewhere else. For instance one of my books is set in Korea, which is a neutral space.<\/p>\n During the Cultural Revolution, China repressed free speech. Do you think that\u2019s influenced your writing at all?<\/b><\/p>\n Of course, but even now freedom of speech is a big issue [in China]. There is a censor. People have more freedom, but you can\u2019t criticize the government or the leaders of China in public. You can in private, but not in public. In my case, I do it for the freedom in English. When I write in English, I don\u2019t worry about what will be censored. It\u2019s just a matter of taste. I cherish the freedom. English also creates a better esthetic; it makes the wording more elegant and clear.<\/p>\n Your work is sometimes described as \u201cbrutal\u201d or \u201cdirty.\u201d Do you agree?<\/b><\/p>\n Maybe in my early work because those take place in the countryside of China, where I was from, so there was a lot of feeling for that. Otherwise, I wouldn\u2019t have spent the time working hard on those [pieces of work]. Maybe, if it\u2019s brutal, then the story itself is brutal. Life is brutal. It\u2019s justified. But in recent work I don\u2019t think [the stories are] as brutal. For instance, \u201cA Free Life\u201d is about immigration. The story wasn\u2019t brutal, so it deserves a different type of treatment. The drama itself justifies the presentation.<\/p>\n Why is your newer work less \u201cbrutal\u201d or \u201cshocking\u201d? Does it stem from, perhaps, personal growth?<\/b><\/p>\n Because of my situation, I need to look for stories in between two cultures, two languages. In other words, my life has input into the experience of a person who is living away from their native home. This kind of life is different\u2014it\u2019s not as if you are in the midst of the Revolution. Also, China is different than it was three decades ago. It\u2019s still a brutal place, but in a different way. It\u2019s not so much physical now but mental. There\u2019s more characteristic pressure and economic competition.<\/p>\n A lot of the themes in your work deal with suppression, immigration, sometimes even exile. Yet your work is fiction. Are the stories truly <\/i>fictional?<\/b><\/p>\n The centers of some stories are real. As a fiction writer I try to make the drama more interesting, but I do feel a story or novel should have meaning. And the meaning often exists in the author\u2014the drama in the details. It often embodies my perception of the world.<\/p>\n What is<\/i> your perception of the world?<\/b><\/p>\n It\u2019s changed a lot since I\u2019ve lived in the States for almost 30 years. Gradually I\u2026really appreciate life and I feel others should hear the truth. A piece of literature should be a piece of art. As a result I lead a different kind of life. It doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019ve abandoned China; I still follow the news and I still write about it, but from a different perspective. I do believe the written word is important, and human reason should give order to the world.<\/p>\n How do you think you have evolved as a writer since you began?<\/b><\/p>\n As a writer, I think I can bare more uncertainty now. In the beginning I didn\u2019t know how far I could go, or if I could even finish a project. If everything is certain, maybe it\u2019s not that good. Risk is always part of the creative process. So I guess now I am more at peace with the process.<\/p>\n You also started in poetry, but have since written novellas, novels, short stories, etc. Do you still consider yourself to be more of a poet than a novelist or storyteller?<\/b><\/p>\n I would consider myself both. I started with poetry and also received my graduate degree in poetry. But poetry was so hard to get published.\u00a0 Almost by chance a publisher wanted some pages of prose, so I wrote a novella. Later the poems got published as a book, so I took back the novella and expanded it to the novel Waiting<\/i>. I\u2019m still in the process of becoming some kind of writer (laughs<\/i>).<\/p>\n You graduated from the Creative Writing Program at BU, and you\u2019ve been teaching here since 2002. What has being a professor at BU taught you about writing? About yourself as a writer?<\/b><\/p>\n I also teach literature, which is a great help. It shows you what the great books should be like. There\u2019s a sense of a standard in my mind. Also, every great piece of literature has a lot of lessons. Every time I read a book, I learn something new\u2014it makes me feel enriched. As for [teaching] fiction writing, it\u2019s rewarding to see students become accomplished. Many have published books and novels, so it\u2019s fulfilling to see these people struggling and ending up with a book.<\/p>\n You were recently elected into the Academy of Arts and Letters, which The New York Times<\/i> describes as \u201cone of the highest honors in the arts.\u201d What went through your mind when you found out?<\/b><\/p>\n I didn\u2019t know it was a highest honor when I received it, but for me it is a great honor to be in the same ranks as the other artists, writers, composers etc. They have a limited number of members. Beyond that, you don\u2019t have to pay! [To be part of] many societies you have to, and I never felt comfortable among the rich. So this is different\u2014it\u2019s purely an organization for artists. I\u2019m very pleased with that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Creative Writing Professor Ha Jin is a critically acclaimed poet, novelist, and short story writer who grew up in the chaos of China during the Cultural Revolution. 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