Linda Jaivin (born 27 March 1955)''The Bibliography of Australian Literature: F–J''
Retrieved 19 December 2013. ''Note'': Jaivin has advised of a typographical error: "27 May" should read "27 March". This agrees with a statement made on her own website: is an American-born Australian translator,

essay An essay is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a letter, a paper, an article, a pamphlet, and a short story. Essays have been sub-classified as formal a ...

ist, novelist and sinologist.

Early life

Linda Jaivin was born in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decades ...

, to a Jewish family of Russian heritage. Her grandfathers were Jewish refugees from Tsarist Russia, who emigrated to Argentina and the United States. Her interest in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

led her to undertake Chinese studies at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. She moved to

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

in 1977 to deepen her knowledge of Chinese culture and language. Moving to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in 1979, her first job there was editing textbooks for

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

. She worked for ''

Asiaweek ''Asiaweek'' was an English-language news magazine focusing on Asia, published weekly by Asiaweek Limited, a subsidiary of Time Inc. Based in Hong Kong, it was established in 1975, and ceased publication with its 7 December 2001 issue due to a " ...

'' magazine, where she met the Australian scholar

Geremie Barmé Geremie R. Barmé (born 1954) is an Australian sinologist, author, and film-maker on modern and traditional China. He was formerly Director, Australian Centre on China in the World and Chair Professor of Chinese History at Australian National ...

, whom she later married. They returned to

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, Australia in 1986.Linda Morris, Interview with Linda Jaivin, ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'', 12 April 2014, Spectrum, p. 30 They divorced in 1994. She now lives in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Work

Jaivin has written a

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

of her experiences as a translator in China, ''The Monkey and the Dragon'', as well as a number of novels. She co-edited an anthology on dissident writers in China, ''New Ghosts, Old Dreams:Chinese Rebel Voices'' with

, in 1992. Jaivin has contributed to a number of magazines including the Australian magazine of politics and culture, ''

The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...

''. She wrote for the ''

Quarterly Essay ''Quarterly Essay'' is an Australian periodical that straddles the border between magazines and non-fiction books. Printed in a book-like page size and using a single-column format, each issue features a single extended essay of at least 20,000 ...

'' ''Found in Translation: In Praise of a Plural World'' in November 2013. She has subtitled many Chinese films, including '' Farewell my Concubine'' and '' The Grandmaster.'' Jaivin has been a guest on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

radio program ''

The Book Show Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

'' and a panelist on '' Q&A'' and other programs.Party Time: Living and Working in China
(television interview)

Bibliography

Novels

Non-fiction

* Review of

Anne Manne Anne Manne (née Robinson; born 1955) is an Australian journalist and social philosopher. Her 2005 book ''Motherhood: How should we care for our children?'' was short-listed in 2006 for Australian journalism's Walkley Award. Anne Manne has b ...

's ''The Life of I''.

Films (as sub-titler)

* ''Farewell My Concubine'' (

Chen Kaige Chen Kaige (; born 12 August 1952) is a Chinese film director and a leading figure of the fifth generation of Chinese cinema.Berry, Michael (2002). "Chen Kaige: Historical Revolution and Cinematic Rebellion" in Speaking in Images: Interviews wit ...

, 1993) * ''

Hero A hero (feminine: heroine) is a real person or a main fictional character who, in the face of danger, combats adversity through feats of ingenuity, courage, or Physical strength, strength. Like other formerly gender-specific terms (like ...

'' (

Zhang Yimou Zhang Yimou (; born 2 April 1950) is a Chinese film director, producer, writer, actor and former cinematographer.Tasker, Yvonne (2002). "Zhang Yimou" i''Fifty Contemporary Filmmakers'' Routledge Publishing, p. 412. . Google Book Search. Retriev ...

, 2002) * '' The Grandmaster'' (

Wong Kar-wai Wong Kar-wai (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong film director, screenwriter, and producer. His films are characterised by nonlinear narratives, atmospheric music, and vivid cinematography involving bold, saturated colours. A pivotal figure ...

, 2013)

References

External links

* * Jaivin is a member o
The Australian Society of Authors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jaivin, Linda Living people 1955 births 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century translators 20th-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian novelists 21st-century translators 21st-century Australian women writers American emigrants to Australia Australian columnists Australian translators Australian women novelists Jewish Australian writers Chinese–English translators Subtitlers The Monthly people Australian women columnists Writers from Connecticut Grunge lit authors American sinologists Australian sinologists Writers about China Women orientalists Jewish women writers Jewish translators Jewish novelists