Cao Wenxuan (; born January 1954) is a Chinese novelist, best known for his works of children's literature.
Biography
Cao was born in 1954 in
Yancheng,
Jiangsu.
He entered into the Department of Chinese Language and Literature of Peking University in 1974 and started to publish novels in 1983.
Hans Christian Andersen Award
In April 2016 Cao was announced as the winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award for children's writing being the first Chinese author to ever receive the award.
The International Board on Books for Young People's jury, announcing the award, said Cao "writes beautifully about the complex lives of children facing great challenges. He is a deeply committed writer, whose own difficult childhood has been deeply influential on his writing in which there are no easy answers."
He received the award in Auckland, New Zealand, on 20 August 2016.
[ CCTV video (2-3 mins)] His acceptance speech was titled "Literature: Another Form of Housebuilding" (文学：另一种造屋).
Cao's Dingding and Dangdang (2012) (Illustrated by Zhenjun Liu) series follows the life of two brothers with
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Works
Novels
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1985 The Old Walls ()
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1991 Goats Do Not Eat Heaven Grass ()
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1997 The Grass House ()
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1999 The Bird ()
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2000 The Red Tile Roof ()
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2005 Red Tile, Black Tile ()
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2005 The Thin Rice ()
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2005 Bronze and Sunflower ()
[English translation: Bronze and Sunflower, tr Helen Wang, Walker Books, London, 2015. ][French translation: Bronze et Tournesol, tr Brigitte Guilbaud, Editions Philippe Picquier, 2010 ][Review/feature: "Cao Wenxuan, children literature and…talent" by Bertrand Mialaret, 2010, mychinesebooks.com ][Italian translation: "Girasole", tr Paolo Magagnin.]
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2005 The Gourd Ladle ()
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2008 Dawang Tome: The Amber Tiles ()
[English translation: Legends of the Dawang Tome: The Amber Tiles, tr Nicholas Richards, Better Chinese, California, 2015. ]
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2008 Dawang Tome: The Red Lantern ()
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2012 Dingding and Dangdang ()
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2014 A Cool Bird Wawa
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2015 Firebrand ()
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2016 Dragonfly Eyes ()
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2019 Caoxiewan Road ()
Novellas
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1983 A Cattle without Horns ()
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1988 A Small House Buried in The Snow ()
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1988 The Evening Has Come Down Upon The Ancestral Temple ()
Short stories
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1986 Mist Covered The Old Castle ()
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1986 The Dumb Cattle ()
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1989 The Blue Countryside ()
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1992 The Green Fence ()
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1994 A City under The Water ()
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1994 The Red Calabash ()
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1996 The Rose Valley ()
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1997 Sanjiaodi ()
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2005 The Windmill ()
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2008 Gouyayu ()
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2008 A Very Special Pigeon ()
[ "A Very Special Pigeon", English translation by Helen Wang, published by the Writing Chinese project, University of Leeds, September 2015]
Picture books for children
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Summer in a Cotton Padded Jacket ()
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Feather
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Chrysanthemum Doll ()
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Last Leopard ()
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A Big Fish Swims East ()
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Crazy Rooster ()
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Bird Boat ()
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Flying Bird Nest ()
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Summer (translated by Yan Ding, illustrated by Yu Rong)
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Smoke (translated by Duncan Poupard, illustrated by Yu Rong)
Essays
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Crows ()
[ "Crows, by Cao Wenxuan", English translation by Helen Wang, first published in Pathlight magazine, Sept 2015, then as Read Paper Republic no.10, Sept 2015.]
Awards and commendations
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Cao Wenxuan won the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2016.
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Goats Do Not Eat Heaven Grass () – 3rd Song Qingling Literature Prize, National Five Top Project Award
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The Grass House () – Bingxin Literature Prize, 4th National Book Award, National Five Top Project Award, 5th Song Qingling Literature Prize, 19th Golden Rooster Award for Best Writing (1999), Huabiao Awards (1998), 14th Tehran International Film Festival - the Golden Butterfly Prize
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Bronze and Sunflower () – Bingxin Literature Prize, National Book Award, National Five Top Project Award.
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Dingding and Dangdang () (Illustrated by Zhenjun Liu) – Selected as one of the 2015 IBBY Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities
Adaptations
One of his works has been adapted for film:
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The Grass House () (directed by Xu Geng)
Two more of his works are being adapted for film: Bronze and Sunflower and Firebrand.
External links
