HarperCollins Publishers Acquires North-American Rights to Novel by Gao Xingjian, Winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize for Literature.Business Editors FRANKFURT, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 19, 2000 HarperCollins Publishers today announced that it has purchased the North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. rights to Soul Mountain, a novel by Chinese writer Gao Xingjian, winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize Nobel Prize, award given for outstanding achievement in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, peace, or literature. The awards were established by the will of Alfred Nobel, who left a fund to provide annual prizes in the five areas listed above. for Literature. The two-book contract, negotiated with agent Georges Borchardt, also includes a second novel, One Man's Bible. Soul Mountain, first published in English by HarperCollins Australia, will be published in the U.S. in January 2001. Terry Karten, HarperCollins Vice President and Executive Editor, will serve as Gao's editor. "I am delighted that we have purchased rights to these two important books by such a highly acclaimed author," said Jane Friedman, President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of HarperCollins Publishers. "HarperCollins Australia published Soul Mountain earlier this year to great success. This acquisition further strengthens HarperCollins' position as a global publishing company. We look forward to bringing these books to the U.S. and Canada." Born and educated in China, Gao Xingjian studied French literature at the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute between 1957 and 1962. After the Cultural Revolution, he became a resident playwright at the Beijing People's Art Theatre. In 1987 he settled in Paris, where he now lives. He writes in both Chinese and French. In 1992 he was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. His winning of the Nobel Prize for Literature marks the first time China has been so honored. Translated from Chinese by Mabel Lee, Soul Mountain has been described as "a picaresque pic·a·resque adj. 1. Of or involving clever rogues or adventurers. 2. Of or relating to a genre of usually satiric prose fiction originating in Spain and depicting in realistic, often humorous detail the adventures of a roguish journey of one man--part travel diary, part philosophy, part love story and part fable. Conventions are challenged, preconceptions are thwarted and the human condition, with all its foibles and triumphs, is laid bare." When it was published in Australia in 1999, Soul Mountain was called "the extraordinary product of an imagination infused with European and Chinese culture" by The Weekend Australian 'Review'. The 'Review' further observed that the novel was an "exploration of individual identity in a society that exalts the collective; and a daring play with voice and storytelling that plunders ancient Chinese myths, philosophy, history, folk songs and memory." Judges for the Nobel Prize called Soul Mountain "a great novel, one of those singular literary creations that seem impossible to compare with anything but themselves." HarperCollins is one of the leading English-language publishers in the world and is a subsidiary of News Corporation (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : NWS NWS National Weather Service NWS Naval Weapons Station NWS New World Symphony NWS Nuclear Weapon State NWS Not Work Safe NWS National Watercolor Society NWS North Warning System NWS Nose Wheel Steering NWS National Waste Strategy (UK) , NWS.A; ASX ASX See: Australian Stock Exchange : NCP (1) (Network Control Program) See SNA and network control program. (2) (NetWare Core Protocol) The file sharing protocol used in a NetWare network. , NCPDP NCPDP National Council for Prescription Drug Programs ). Headquartered in New York, the company has publishing groups in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia. Its publishing groups include the HarperCollins General Books Group, HarperCollins Children's Books Group, Zondervan, HarperCollins UK, HarperCollins Canada and HarperCollins Australia. The HarperCollins General Books Group is made up of four operating divisions: HarperTrade, Morrow/Avon, HarperInformation and HarperSanFrancisco. You can visit HarperCollins Publishers on the Internet at http://www.harpercollins.com. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion