Photo: Beesknees999 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Shan Sa fascinates me because she rebuilt herself in a borrowed language. A poet writing in Chinese as a child in Beijing, she moved to France and went on to win the Prix Goncourt du premier roman and the students' Prix Goncourt writing in French, which is an astonishing feat in a second tongue. The Girl Who Played Go bridges East and West with real grace, and the honors that followed, including the Order of Arts and Letters, feel earned. That she also paints only deepens my admiration. Choosing your own language and country, then excelling in both, takes uncommon nerve.
Overview
Shan Sa is the pseudonym of Yan Ni (born October 26, 1972, in Beijing, China), a French author and painter. The Girl Who Played Go was the first of her novels to be published outside France, and won the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens (a prize voted by secondary school students). Her second novel to appear in English translation was Empress (2006).
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Shan Sa
- Name (Japanese)
- 山颯
- Reading
- しゃん・さ
- Born
- October 26, 1972 (age 53)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Scorpio / Rat
- Origin
- Beijing, People's Republic of China
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- writer / poet / painter
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- 1998 Prix Goncourt du premier roman
- 2001 Prix Goncourt des Lycéens
- 2009 Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres
- 2011 Knight of the National Order of Merit
- 1999 Prix Cazes
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
5. Works & records
| Category | Title | Role | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Notable work | Gate of Celestial Peace | — | |
| Notable work | The Girl Who Played Go | — |
6. Links
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B1%B1%E9%A2%AF
Writer — see all → · Poet — see all → · More people from People's Republic of China →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.