Ange Zhang (; born March 19, 1951) is a Chinese-born Canadian illustrator and animation artist.
The son of
Guang Weiran
Guang Weiran (, 1 November 1913 – 28 January 2002), born Zhang Guangnian (), was a Chinese poet and military leader. He is best known for writing the poem that inspired the ''Yellow River Cantata''.
Life
Guang Weiran was born in Laohekou, H ...
, a famous Chinese writer, he was born in
Beijing
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Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and studied at the
Central Academy of Drama
The Central Academy of Drama (), abbreviated Zhong Xi (), is a drama school in Beijing, China. It is a Chinese state Double First Class University Plan university identified by the Ministry of Education of China. The school is the first theatre ...
in China and the
Banff Centre
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, formerly known as The Banff Centre (and previously The Banff Centre for Continuing Education), located in Banff, Alberta, was established in 1933 as the Banff School of Drama. It was granted full autonomy as ...
in Canada. Zhang grew up during the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...
. He joined the
Red Guard
Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard le ...
but was later sent to a farm in
Shanxi province. There he discovered painting and drawing. He later worked as a set designer for the
National Opera Theatre in Beijing. Zhang was working as a set designer at the Banff Centre for the Arts at the time of the
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests, known in Chinese as the June Fourth Incident (), were student-led demonstrations held in Tiananmen Square, Beijing during 1989. In what is known as the Tiananmen Square Massacre, or in Chinese the June Fourth ...
. The Canadian government offered asylum to visitors from China at that time and Zhang decided to accept that offer.
He holds Canadian citizenship.
While he was working on set design for the
Stratford Festival, he met
Ken Nutt at a drawing class in
Stratford. Nutt suggested that he try illustrating children's books. That led to him illustrating
W. D. Valgardson
William Dempsey Valgardson (born 7 May 1939) is an Icelandic Canadian, Icelandic-Canadian fiction writer and poet. He was a long-time professor of writing at the University of Victoria in British Columbia and a professor of English at Cottey Coll ...
's book ''Thor'', which won a
Mr. Christie's Book Award.
[
He married Pingna Sheng; the couple have one son Eric.][
]
Selected work
* ''To the Mountains'' (1995) text by Diana Wieler
* ''The Fishing Summer'' (1997) text by Teddy Jam (pseudonym for Matt Cohen)
* ''Red Land, Yellow River: A Story from the Cultural Revolution'' (2004), finalist for the Norma Fleck Award and for the and winner of the Bologna Ragazzi award for young adult non-fiction at the Bologna Children's Book Fair
The Bologna Children's Book Fair or La fiera del libro per ragazzi is the leading professional fair for children's books in the world.
Since 1963, it is held yearly for four days in March or April in Bologna, Italy. It is the meeting place for al ...
[
]
References
1951 births
Living people
Canadian children's book illustrators
Canadian animators
Chinese emigrants to Canada
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