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Ha Jin

ハ・ジン

Ha Jin

Aliases: 金雪飛 / Jīn Xuěfēi
Pen Names: Ha Jin（Pen name used for writing in English. 'Ha' comes from his fondness for the city Harbin.）

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1956-02-21 （Liaoning, China）
Nationality
China, United States
Languages
English, Chinese
Residence History
Liaoning Province, China → Harbin, China → Boston, Massachusetts, United States → Atlanta, Georgia, United States (formerly)

Career

Occupations
poet, novelist, teacher (university)
Active Years
1980-
Affiliations
Boston University, Emory University (formerly), American Academy of Arts and Sciences (Fellow), American Academy of Arts and Letters (Member)
Memberships
American Academy of Arts and Sciences, American Academy of Arts and Letters
Influenced By
Influenced by the Misty Poets and modern Chinese literature, Eugene Goodheart (mentor)
Influenced
Has influenced Chinese-American writers (e.g., some contemporaries)
Nominations
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, finalist - War Trash (2005)

Education

Heilongjiang University
English studies / English
Degree: BA
Country: China
Entered at age 19; obtained a bachelor's degree.
Shandong University
Anglo-American literature / Anglo-American Literature
Degree: MA
Country: China
Received a master's degree in Anglo-American literature.
Brandeis University
Graduate school (PhD program) / English/Comparative Literature
Degree: PhD
Country: United States
Attended on scholarship; studied under mentors including Eugene Goodheart.

Awards

Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction
1996
Work: Under the Red Flag (short story collection)
Organization: Flannery O'Connor Award committee
Result: 受賞
PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel
1997
Work: Ocean of Words (short story collection)
Organization: PEN America
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
1999
Organization: John S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
National Book Award for Fiction
1999
Work: Waiting
Organization: National Book Foundation
Result: 受賞
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
2000
Work: Waiting
Organization: PEN/Faulkner Foundation
Result: 受賞
Townsend Prize for Fiction
2002
Organization: Townsend Prize organization
Result: 受賞
PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction
2005
Work: War Trash
Organization: PEN/Faulkner Foundation
Result: 受賞
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
2006
Organization: American Academy of Arts and Sciences
Result: 選出
Dayton Literary Peace Prize (runner-up)
2012
Work: Nanjing Requiem
Organization: Dayton Literary Peace Prize organization
Result: 準優勝
PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award
2019
Work: A Distant Center
Organization: PEN Oakland
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Waiting

1999 novel

A novel set in post-Cultural Revolution China that examines love, duty, and divorce; written in English and one of the author's best-known works.

love and dutyfamilysocial change in China
Translations
  • Chinese translation available

In the Pond

1998 novel

A satirical novel about power and corruption in a small-town factory.

power and corruptionlocal society

War Trash

2004 novel (historical/war)

A historical novel following a Chinese soldier's experience as a POW during the Korean War; critically acclaimed and award-recognized.

warsurvival and honormemory

Ocean of Words

1996 short stories

A collection of short stories set in China that showcases the author's early English-language fiction.

everyday fragmentscultural friction

Under the Red Flag

1997 short story collection

A short story collection depicting life in China before and after the Cultural Revolution; includes works that won the Flannery O'Connor Award.

everyday life and politicsindividual dignity

A Distant Center

2018 poetry

A mature collection of poems addressing immigration, nostalgia, and memory.

immigrant experiencenostalgiamemory

Bibliography

  • Between Silences (1990)
  • Ocean of Words (1996)
  • Under the Red Flag (1997)
  • In the Pond (1998)
  • Waiting (1999)
  • The Bridegroom (2000)
  • War Trash (2004)
  • A Free Life (2007)
  • Nanjing Requiem (2011)
  • A Distant Center (2018)
  • The Banished Immortal (2019)
  • A Song Everlasting (2021)
  • The Woman Back from Moscow: In Pursuit of Beauty (2023)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
clear, restrained English proserealist depiction
Recurring Motifs
exile and immigrant experiencetension between individual and statememory and the weight of the past

Legacy

Ha Jin, a Chinese-born writer who writes in English, is internationally recognized for works dealing with immigration and modern Chinese history. He has won major prizes including the National Book Award and PEN/Faulkner, and holds a significant place in American letters.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • American Academy of Arts and Letters

Archives

  • Library of Congress (authority/control and some records)

Quotes

  • "I chose to write in English to preserve the integrity of my work."
    Source: New York Times (essay "Exiled to English", 2009) (2009)

Trivia

  • An asteroid (58495) Hajin was named after him on July 28, 2021.
  • The surname 'Ha' in his pen name is derived from the city Harbin.