HAMBURG, N.Y. – Best-selling memoirist and novelist Anchee Min, whose first book, Red Azalea, chronicled her experiences growing up during China’s Cultural Revolution, will open the 2006-07 Hilbert College Visiting Artist Series.
Min’s presentation is scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 5 in Hilbert’s William E. Swan Auditorium, a new performance space that opened this fall. A book signing will follow at 8 p.m.
Min also penned Becoming Madame Mao, a fictionalized account of the life of Jian Ching, wife of China’s legendary ruler Mao Zedong, who became infamous for her cruelty.
Other works of historical fiction by Min include Katherine, Wild Ginger and Empress Orchid.
Born in Shanghai, Min was sent to work on a collective farm at the age of 17. She was later spotted by a talent scout and selected by Madame Mao for a propaganda film. When Chairman Mao died in the mid-1970s, Min was considered an outcast and politically discredited.
Forced to perform menial tasks to reform herself, Min eventually came to the U.S. to start a new life. She taught herself English and went on to become a renowned writer, painter, musician, and photographer, with one of her photos shown on the cover of Becoming Madame Mao.
The Visiting Artist event, which is sponsored by the Hilbert English Department, is free and open to the public.
Advance registration is requested by contacting Anthony Hughes, Ph.D., at 926-8856, or e-mail hughes@hilbert.edu .