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Wong Bik-Wan

ウォン・ビクワン

Wong Bik-Wan

Pen Names: Huang Biyun（Mandarin pronunciation / romanization of her Chinese name）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1961-01-01 （Hong Kong）
Nationality
Hong Kong
Languages
Chinese (Cantonese), English, Mandarin (Chinese)
Residence History
Hong Kong → Taiwan (part of high school) → France (Paris, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne) → United States (New York, worked)

Career

Occupations
Writer, Screenwriter, Journalist, Legislative assistant
Active Years
1984-

Education

The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Department of Journalism and Communication
Degree: BA
Period: 1980s
Year of Graduation: 1984
Country: Hong Kong
BA majoring in Journalism and Communication
Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
French language and literature studies
Period: 1987（短期留学・研究）
Year of Graduation: 1987
Country: France
Studied French and French literature
The University of Hong Kong
Department of Sociology (Criminology)
Degree: MA
Country: Hong Kong
MA degree in criminology
HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education (HKU SPACE)
Degree: Diploma
Country: Hong Kong
Diploma of Legal Studies

Awards

The 3rd Hong Kong Biennial Awards for Chinese Literature in Fiction
1994
Work: Tenderness and Violence (Wenrou yu baolie)
Organization: Hong Kong Biennial Awards (organizers)
Result: 受賞
The 4th Hong Kong Biennial Awards for Chinese Literature in Essays
1996
Work: We Are Quite Okay Like This (Women ruci henhao)
Organization: Hong Kong Biennial Awards (organizers)
Result: 受賞
The 1st New Talent Award for Literature from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council
1997
Organization: Hong Kong Arts Development Council
Result: 受賞
China Times Open Book Award (Chinese Fiction)
1999
Work: Portraits of Martyred Women (Lienü tu)
Organization: China Times
Result: 受賞
First Prize in the 1st Hua Zong Literary Award for Sinophone Novels
2000
Work: Taohua hong (Peach Blossom Red; compiled in Loveless)
Organization: Hua Zong Literary Award
Result: 受賞
The 6th Hong Kong Biennial Awards for Chinese Literature in Fiction
2000
Work: Portraits of Martyred Women (Lienü tu)
Organization: Hong Kong Biennial Awards (organizers)
Result: 受賞
The United Daily News of Taiwan Award (Literature)
2001
Work: Loveless (Wuai ji)
Organization: United Daily News
Result: 受賞
The United Daily News of Taiwan Award (Literature)
2003
Work: Postcolonial Records (Hou zhimin zhi)
Organization: United Daily News
Result: 受賞
The 12th Hong Kong Biennial Awards for Chinese Literature in Fiction
2012
Work: Children of Darkness (Lielao zhuan)
Organization: Hong Kong Biennial Awards (organizers)
Result: 受賞
The 5th Dream of the Red Chamber Award
2014
Work: Children of Darkness (Lielao zhuan)
Organization: Dream of the Red Chamber Award Committee
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Tenderness and Violence (Wenrou yu baolie)

1994 Novels / Short stories

A collection of stories that depict love, violence and death through varied narrative styles; one of her early major works.

loveviolencedeathurban loneliness
Translations
  • Tenderness and Violence

Portraits of Martyred Women (Lienü tu)

1999 Short stories / Fiction

A short story collection centered on women, exploring pain, sacrifice and responses to societal norms.

womensacrificesocial critique

Loveless (Wuai ji)

2001 Short / Novella

A collection focused on absence of love and loneliness, depicting social ruptures and inner life.

lonelinessabsence of lovesocial disconnection

Children of Darkness (Lielao zhuan)

2012 Novel

A novel portraying lives at the margins of the city, exploring violence and social shadows.

urban darknessviolencemarginalization

Bibliography

  • No Stories in a Small Town (Xiaocheng wu gushi, 1990)
  • Tenderness and Violence (1994)
  • She's a Woman, I'm a Woman (1994)
  • Seven Deadly Sins (1997)
  • Suddenly I Recall Your Face (1998)
  • Portraits of Martyred Women (1999)
  • Seven Types of Silence (2000)
  • Beautiful Sojourner (2000)
  • Twelve Female Charms (2000)
  • Loveless (2001)
  • Blood Carmen (2001)
  • Thereafter (2004)
  • Reticence, Muteness, Humility (2004)
  • Doomsday Hotel (2011)
  • Children of Darkness (2012)
  • The Re-walking of Mei-hei (2014)
  • The Death of Lo Kei (2018)
  • A Proud Woman (1987, prose)
  • We Are Quite Okay Like This (1996, essays)
  • Tears and Laughter: Apo's Oral History (1999, compilation)
  • Postcolonial Records (2003)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Postcolonial / Sinophone perspectiveLyrical yet often intense proseUse of experimental narrative structures
Recurring Motifs
deathdiseaseloveurban darknessmemory of the 1997 handover

Legacy

Recognized as a major contemporary Hong Kong Sinophone writer, Wong Bik-Wan is known for probing themes of death, disease and love to explore memories of the postcolonial period and marginalized voices. She is cited as a major writer in The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature.

Trivia

  • Born into a Hakka family.
  • Attended part of high school in Taiwan.
  • Graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in Journalism in 1984.
  • Worked as a screenwriter for TVB.
  • Worked for a Chinese-language press in New York.
  • Her work often addresses memories of the 1997 handover and urban shadows.