Taiwanese Literature - Novels, Short Stories, and Poetry

Novels, Short Stories, and Poetry

Taiwan has a very active literary scene, with a large number of writers of novels and (especially) short stories enjoying a wide readership, many of them for many decades running. A short selection of prominent writers includes:

  • Wu Zhuoliu (1900–1976)
  • Bo Yang (1920-2008)
  • Huang Chunming (1935-)
  • Pai Hsien-yung (1937-)
  • Chen Ruoxi (1938-)
  • Wang Wenxing (1939-)
  • Yang Mu (1940-)
  • San Mao (1943-1991)
  • Lung Ying-tai (1952-)
  • Hou Wen-yong (1962-)

See the full list of Taiwanese writers.

Similarly, there is a large poetry community in Taiwan, and there have been several anthologies of Taiwanese poetry in English translation.

Two areas of cross-pollination between literature and other arts in Taiwan include modern dance (particularly the modern dance troupe Cloud Gate Dance Theater, founded and directed by author Lin Huai-min) and filmmaking (including productions of stories by Huang Chunming directed by the leading Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien).

The 1990s saw the rise of a nativist Taiwan literature movement.

Read more about this topic:  Taiwanese Literature

Famous quotes containing the words short and/or poetry:

    “[On being asked “what sort of future she anticipates having”:] A very short one.”
    —Jeanne Calment (b. c. 1875)

    “Poetry is the most direct and simple means of expressing oneself in words: the most primitive nations have poetry, but only quite well developed civilizations can produce good prose. So don’t think of poetry as a perverse and unnatural way of distorting ordinary prose statements: prose is a much less natural way of speaking than poetry is. If you listen to small children, and to the amount of chanting and singsong in their speech, you’ll see what I mean.”
    —Northrop Frye (1912–1991)