Yan was born in Shanghai, China in 1958. She is the second child of Yan Dunxun and Jia Lin. She has an elder brother Yan Geping (严歌平).[3] Her father is an alumnus of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University.[4]
Her first novel was published in 1985. She is the author of such novels as The Banquet Bug (published as The Uninvited in the UK) and The Lost Daughter of Happiness, as well as a story collection entitled White Snake and Other Stories. Several of Yan's works have been adapted for film, including Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl, which was directed by Joan Chen, and Siao Yu, directed by Sylvia Chang and screenplay co-written by Ang Lee. Zhang Yimou, the Chinese director of To Live and Raise the Red Lantern adapted her novella 13 Flowers of Nanjing to the screen as The Flowers of War, and his movie Coming Home was based on Yan's novel The Criminal Lu Yanshi.[6] She has worked on other scripts including a biography of Mei Lanfang, the Peking opera star, for Chinese director Chen Kaige.
Novels in English
The Banquet Bug (written in English, published as The Uninvited in the UK)[7]
The Lost Daughter of Happiness (tr. Cathy Silber, Chinese title Fusang 《扶桑》)[8]
The Flowers of War (tr. Nicky Harman, Chinese title Jinling shisan chai 《金陵十三钗》)[9]
Little Aunt Crane (tr. Esther Tyldesley, Chinese title Xiaoyi Duohe 《小姨多鶴》)
The Criminal Lu Yanshi (adapted into a movie, titled Coming Home)《陆犯焉识》
As of 11 February 2022, Yan was censored on China's internet after commenting on the atrocity and government cover-ups in the Xuzhou chained woman incident and agreeing with Zhou Xiaozheng's assessment that Chinese Communist Party leader Xi Jinping is a "human trafficker" who imposed a large sum of money for "donation" on foreign families who adopt Chinese orphans.[15][16]Baidu Baike showed "Sorry, the page you're visiting no longer exists" for Yan's entry. The search results for Yan's name on Sina Weibo became unavailable.[17]
Personal life
Yan's ex-husband is Li Kewei; they divorced in the 1990s. In 1992, Yan married her second husband Lawrence Walker in San Bruno, California. Walker is a diplomat. They have no biological children together, but have adopted a Chinese girl, Yanyan.[18]
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