Encouraged by her father, Li Yong’s daughter published the novel Miss Liu.
Beijing Youth Daily News (Reporter cui wei) Fatimah Li, a 16-year-old Hui girl born in 2002, recently published her first novel, Miss Liu, through Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House. The novel was written in Chinese and then translated into English by Fatimah.
Fatimah Lee is the daughter of Li Yong, a former CCTV host, and Ha Wen, a director and producer. The creative opportunity of "Miss Liu" is to listen to the love story of her mother, Grandma Fatimah, accidentally told by her mother Ha Wen. In the 1940s, Miss Liu was pursued by a Kuomintang officer, but eventually she married a Communist party member, that is, Fatimah’s grandfather, and then her family moved from the northeast to Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. It is a pity that Havin can’t know more details because his mother has passed away, but this simple sentence has aroused Fatimah’s infinite imagination. Fatimah, who went abroad to study as a teenager, said that she was completely unfamiliar with the history of China in the 20th century and had not experienced love and marriage personally. However, the 16-year-old post-00 generation felt very cordial when she wrote the story of her grandmother’s 16 years old. Of course, many details were invented in the book.
The novel uses two clues to describe the love story of Miss Liu and my illness, both of whom are fifteen or sixteen years old. Miss Liu and Mr. two of a kind, who wears military uniforms, send letters to express their feelings, and my illness is tied to the words of a matchmaker in Montenegro, and they will stay together for the rest of their lives. When asked by my daughter why her surname was not Liu, I replied, "I don’t want to be the majority." Fatimah said that although he didn’t know China’s representative youth literature works, he also looked through them in bookstores. He didn’t like reading and writing campus literature, and he didn’t like flowery rhetoric and inexplicable sadness. In the process of translating the story of Miss Liu into English, when she feels bored, she will look at the English translation of Haruki Murakami’s works.
This is Fatimah’s first novel, which was written with the encouragement of his father Li Yong. In July this year, she handed over the final version to Changjiang Literature and Art Publishing House, which published Yong Yuan Yi in Li Yong. Before the editor of the publishing house sent this book to press, he also discussed with Fatimah to ask the three of them to do a live video broadcast of the new book launch remotely. Unfortunately, Fatimah’s father Li Yong will be absent forever.
conversation
Fatimah Lee: My father has no regrets when he saw my book published.
Inspired by stories told by my mother.
Beiqing Daily: The source of the story is the story of the elders told by my mother. How much is true?
Fatimah: The inspiration for writing this book was my accidental discussion with my mother. My name is quite special, and when I talked about my grandmother’s name, I was very curious. When I asked how my grandmother’s name came from, my mother told me this story and suddenly wanted to write it down. The point is that the inspiration comes from the story my mother told me, but it is still a fictional novel in essence, because many plots need me to make up and think for myself.
Beiqing Daily: As a teenager who went abroad to study very early, what did you use to supplement so many grounded scenes in the story? I heard that you have consulted a lot of materials. Can you tell me about two or three things that impressed you in the creative process?
Fatimah: I didn’t go abroad until I was 13 years old. I grew up in Beijing, so I haven’t derailed from these things, but I know a little bit about them. As for the difficulties encountered in writing due to the age, the focus is still on, for example, the varieties and names of some cigarettes, what kind of furniture made of wood was popular at that time, and there is no channel to know now, so I just look up some historical materials on the Internet, which were imported in large quantities at that time.
"Dad will modify my opinion in some details."
Beiqing Daily: Did you show the manuscript to your father and mother? How do they feel?
Fatimah: It doesn’t mean that they will take the initiative to read and review it. I will write a paragraph and if I think I like it very much, I will take the initiative to share it with them, and they will give some constructive suggestions. In particular, my father pays great attention to details and will give me some suggestions for revision in some details.
"If you want to write, you have to write."
Beiqing Daily: How to control a historical love story at the age of 15?
Fatimah: I wrote it at that time, including now, which is similar to Miss Liu’s age at the beginning of the book. Except that the times are different, the feelings of mind and mood should be similar to some extent, so it is not very difficult to write it like this.
Beiqing Daily: What specific words from your parents prompted you to write this book?
Fatimah: My parents said, "You don’t always tell us your ideas, you have to write them if you want", so I thought it was time to write something.
Beiqing Daily: A novel published at the age of 16 may be evaluated as immature in writing and connotation. What do you think?
Fatimah: I accept everyone’s comments. After all, I’m really 16 years old, and I don’t have the mature and refined style of writing. I can change, after all, I’m only 16 years old.
"Dad saw my book published."
Beiqing Daily: What kind of girl are you in life? Are you more like your father or your mother?
Fatimah: As for my personality, I may be a little more casual, sometimes more straightforward, which is quite similar to my parents. After going abroad, my independence has become stronger, but overall it is almost the same as before.
Beiqing Daily: Did father see this book published?
Fatimah: My father didn’t regret seeing my book published.
Beiqing Daily: What books do you like to read? Or who do you think is more influenced by your style of writing?
Fatimah: I just finished reading Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Forest, which is not limited to a certain writer or a certain style of writing. Personally, I prefer a more casual and free style of writing, which does not require flowery words. It is a spiritual communication between the author and the reader, either flowery words or good ones.
Beiqing Daily: If you encounter problems, are you a girl willing to communicate with your parents? Is there anything that your father taught you that benefited you the most?
Fatimah: My relationship with my parents is like friends. My family is more equal. I will tell them any questions. There is nothing I can’t say. They are very experienced, so I can learn a lot from them. What my father taught me is basically to do what comes to mind, and actions speak louder than words. Always act when it’s time to act, don’t always talk about it.
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter cui wei
