My dream is to write with both pens, in English and Chinese. I want to be more truthful and more straightforward when I write in English. - Geling Yan

It’s always challenging to portray foreign characters in a novel that is told mainly from a Chinese perspective or, you may say, in a Chinese story.

I believe all free thinkers, all artists and writers, should be independent from the mainstream so they won’t take the value system or moral standards of the mainstream for granted. They should take it as their duty to question and doubt the way of life and way of thinking of the majority. I am glad to live overseas as a Chinese writer, to remain independent and critical of both sides.

Death is not completely tragic, perhaps it will be the completion of a redemption, or the beginning of a rebirth.