MCLC: Liao Yiwu's feral attack

Denton, Kirk denton.2 at osu.edu
Tue Oct 16 09:16:45 EDT 2012


MCLC LIST
From: pjmooney <pjmooney at mac.com>
Subject: Liao Yiwu's feral attack
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Source: The Standard (10/15/12):
http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?sid=37911441&art_id=127315&co
n_type=1&pp_cat=17

Peace winner in feral attack

Dissident mainland author Liao Yiwu tore into the leadership in Beijing,
describing his homeland as an "inhuman empire with bloody hands" as he
scooped a prestigious German book prize at the Frankfurt Book Fair.The
author, also known as Lao Wei, said the Chinese state is a "massive scrap
heap that must break apart" and accused the West of "colluding with the
executioners under the cover of free trade."

Liao's speech came as he collected the German Book Trade Peace Prize, the
country's second highest award, and the accompanying endowment of 25,000
euros (HK$251,000) at a ceremony attended by President Joachim Gauck.

Earlier, in an interview carried by the German newsweekly Spiegel, Liao
attacked fellow mainland author Mo Yan, the winner of this year's Nobel
Prize for literature, as a "state poet" who is close to the communist
regime.

Liao spent four years in jail after writing the poem Massacre about the
1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
He moved to Germany after successfully defying a travel ban by walking to
Vietnam.

Liao is also the author of The Corpse Walker, which records the lives of
working-class Chinese including a grave robber and a delusional peasant
who believes he is an emperor.
His works are banned in the mainland.

German Booksellers' and Publishers' Association president Gottfried
Honnefelder praised the author for having "restored a voice to the people
of his country suffering from repression and oppression."
Past prize winners include Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, Hungarian Peter
Esterhazy and Czech writer and former president Vaclav Havel.

Last year's prize was won by acclaimed Algerian author Boualem Sansal.

Beijing criticized the nomination when it was declared in June, saying
Liao has "continued to fabricate stories to receive sympathy and support."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE





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