Jump to content

Wendy Law-Yone

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Trappist the monk (talk | contribs) at 19:51, 20 March 2014 (→Biography: Fix CS1 unknown parameter errors using AWB). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Wendy Law-Yone
Born (1947-04-01) April 1, 1947 (age 77)[1]
Mandalay, Burma
Occupationwriter
NationalityUnited States
SpouseJohn Randall
ChildrenJocelyn Seagrave, Sean Seagrave, Chad O'Connor, Bess O'Connor
RelativesEdward Law-Yone (father)

Wendy Law-Yone (Burmese pronunciation: [lɔ́ jòʊɴ]; born 1947) is a critically acclaimed Burmese- born American author. She wrote novels and short stories. Though she did not settle in the United States until she was an adult, she is identified as an Asian American writer.[2] Her novels, The Coffin Tree (1983) and Irrawaddy Tango (1993), were critically well received, with the latter nominated in 1995 for the Irish Times Literary Prize.[3] Her third novel, "The Road to Wanting," (2010) is set in Burma, China and Thailand.

Biography

The daughter of notable Burmese newspaper publisher, editor and politician Edward Michael Law-Yone,[4] Law-Yone was born in Mandalay but grew up in Rangoon.[5] Her background is diverse, with one grandfather a merchant from Yunnan and another a colonial officer from Great Britain.[6] Law-Yone states that she is "half Burman, a quarter Chinese and a quarter English".[7]

Law-Yone has indicated that her father's imprisonment under the military regime limited her options in the country. She was barred from university, but not allowed to leave the country.[7] In 1967, an attempt to escape to Thailand failed and she was imprisoned, but managed to leave Burma as a stateless person.[7] She relocated to the United States in 1973, settling in Washington D.C. after attending college in Florida.[4] In 1987, she was the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Literature Award for Creative Writing.[8] In 2002, she received a David T.K. Wong Creative Writing Fellowship from the University of East Anglia.[9] Her novel The Road to Wanting was long-listed for the Orange Prize 2011.[10]

Law-Yone cites as a strong influence on her writing career her father's love of language, noting that his work as the founder of Burmese English-language newspaper The Nation was a daily factor in her childhood.[11]

Selected bibliography

Library resources about
Wendy Law-Yone
By Wendy Law-Yone
  • The Coffin Tree (1983)
  • Irrawaddy Tango (1993)
  • The Road to Wanting (2010)
  • Golden Parasol: A Daughter's Memoir of Burma (2013)

Further reading

Notes

  1. ^ American ethnic writers. Salem Press. 2008. p. 679. ISBN 978-1-58765-464-0.
  2. ^ Yoo and Ho, 295. "There's no getting away from it, is there? I'm Asian, I'm American, and I'm a writer."
  3. ^ Yoo and Ho, 284.
  4. ^ a b Yoo and Ho, 283
  5. ^ Huang, Guiyou (2006). The Columbia Guide to Asian American Literature Since 1945. Columbia University Press. p. 136. ISBN 0-231-12620-4.
  6. ^ "SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research" (PDF). 2 (1). School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Spring 2004: 5. ISSN 1479-8484. Retrieved 2008-10-12. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ a b c "Beyond Rangoon: an interview with Wendy Law-Yone". Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States. 2002-12-22. Retrieved 2008-10-12.
  8. ^ http://arts.endow.gov/pub/NEA
  9. ^ "Wendy Law-Yone, 2002 David T.K. Wong Fellow". University of East Anglia. Retrieved 12 November 2008.
  10. ^ Retrieved 22 March 2011.
  11. ^ Yoo and Ho, 286.

Sources

  • Yoo, Nancy (2000). "Wendy Law-Yone". In King-Kok Cheung (ed.). Words Matter: Conversations with Asian American Writers. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 283–302. ISBN 082482216. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: length (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help); External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

Template:Persondata

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wendy_Law-Yone&oldid=600494844"