Yu Xiu

Yu Xiu: New Youth School

Yu Xiu was born in Fujian in 1974 and came to Shenzhen at the age of 10. In 1990, he wrote the novel "Flower Season·Rainy Season". After graduating from high school in 1993, he studied at Shenzhen University. In 1995, he went to the United States to study business. In 1999, he graduated from California State University. "Flower Season·Rainy Season" was published by Haitian Publishing House in 1996. It has sold more than 1 million copies so far, and the pirated version is said to have reached 2 million copies. The novel has also been adapted into movies, TV series, and comic books. In August 2000, he completed his new work "Sunbird", which will be published by Jiangsu Literature and Art Publishing House.

The lives of this group of young international students in "Sunbird" are very fresh and healthy, unlike some works that depict new people as decadent and cynical. "Flower Season and Rainy Season" describes the flamboyant and bright side of the life of middle school students; "Sunbird" also depicts the flamboyant and bright side of the life of teenagers studying abroad. "If I want to use a concept to express the characteristics of my works, I would like to use the word 'New Youth School'." Yu Xiu said: "Some people are keen on writing about morbid youth, but youth is not like this. From reading From a perspective, healthy youth can also be written wonderfully and beautifully."

I saw Yu Xiu, so thin and ordinary in appearance. I tried my best to imagine how those little hands wrote down every word of a novel in an exercise book 10 years ago, casually threw a miracle seed in the corner of the girl's room, and then traveled across the ocean to a foreign country - ——Once gone, it will be longer than One Thousand and One Nights. One day in 1996, the left behind seed suddenly emitted a strange light, touching the hearts of millions of boys and girls. She only heard about it intermittently in a foreign land, when she was struggling to get an A in her business studies.

That miracle is called "Flower Season·Rainy Season", a novel for middle school students that has sold more than 1 million copies (excluding more pirated versions), and the debut novel of a genius girl. Now, the man who created the miracle is back. The 16-year-old blooming season is no longer here. It seems that only those big eyes reveal something different.

26-year-old Yu Xiu flew in with his second novel "Sunbird", but I haven't seen this novel in print yet. This is my first time interviewing an author without reading the book. I don't know if "Sunbird" can become another miracle.

For a long time, writers born in the 1970s have caused controversy in the literary world.

However, Yu Xiu’s works are eye-catching. Unlike some works that depict the new and new humans as decadent and cynical, whether it is "Flower Season·Rainy Season" or "Sunbird", describing the flamboyant and bright side of life seems to have become Yu Xiu's characteristic. When you open the book page, you can see the vitality of youth. And the breath hits my face.

"If I want to use a concept to express the characteristics of my works, I would like to use the word 'New Youth School'." Yu Xiu said: "Some people are keen on writing about morbid youth, but youth is not That’s not the case. From a reading perspective, Healthy Youth will also be written wonderfully and beautifully." Of course, Tan Yuxiu inevitably talked about "Flower Season·Rainy Season". Four years ago, "Flower Season·Rainy Season" seemed to be blowing a whirlwind, becoming a hit wherever it went and creating a "myth" with sales of millions. Today's Yuxiu looked back on "Flower Season" and said: "Today, when I look back on "Flower Season·Rainy Season" with the eyes of an adult, part of me is satisfied, and part of me is dissatisfied. Some parts have a strong youthful atmosphere, but I can't pass it. Once you reach that age, it will be difficult to return to that kind of innocence, and it will be difficult to write that kind of writing again. Due to your young age, there must be some shortcomings in the ideas and organizational structure of the work, but it also reveals the characteristics of that age."

Yu Xiu has always viewed today’s honor with gratitude. "I have made a lot of trials and errors in my growth process. Today's honor and understanding are undoubtedly a huge affirmation and encouragement to me. I know that what I do is not something to impress, it is meaningful, and this meaning It was given by the readers. It also gave me the confidence and courage to continue."

When talking about the motivation for writing "Sunbird", Yu Xiu said that "Flower Season·Rainy Season" was written in 1990. It was officially published 6 years later. A year before it was published, she went to study in the United States.

In August 1999, she returned to China for the first time and felt a strong cultural shock. Her heart was full of exclamations and she began to have creative impulses.

"It was a good time for me. First, there was a gap of three or four years between the publication of "Flower Season and Rainy Season". This time gap allowed me to look at my first novel and its impact on me objectively and calmly. Secondly, I had just graduated, which meant that I had completed the biggest thing in going to the United States, and I had no financial burden, so I was relatively calm mentally. So my inner impulse to create became stronger and stronger, and I decided to sit in front of the computer again. I feel that many times, authors follow their inner feelings. For example, when "Flower Season·Rainy Season" was popular, many people asked me to write. I had no creative impulse, and it was useless to force me. Last year, I came back and traveled across the country. I signed books and sold books in more than ten cities. Everywhere I went, readers asked me when my second novel would be released. So the strong creative impulse turned into a creative determination."

For Yu Xiu, The accumulation of experience in studying abroad for four years also made her feel like she had something to say: "I think this generation of international students is really different from the previous ones. For them, studying abroad is as simple as going from first grade to second grade. It is natural for them. Unlike the earlier international students who worked all day long to make money, they also don’t have the sense of historical responsibility that the earlier international students had—this may be a mark of the times. The literature of previous international students seems to be soaked in bitter water. ”

Yu Xiu’s creation can be said to be completed in one go, taking only more than half a year. This is mainly due to the accumulation of sufficient material. But her creation was not easy. She once "left the earth" for 90 days, hiding on the third floor of her apartment and working day and night. She said: "Working requires dedication. People who write books must be worthy of those who publish books, and even more worthy of those who read."

What do you think of "Sunbird"? Yuxiu said that the work is like giving birth to a child. The parents must have devoted their efforts and given them expectations. Similarly, she also has expectations and full confidence in "Sunbird". However, a child becomes an independent individual after leaving the mother's body. Once the work is published, it will have its own destiny. "I can only say that this child looks better than the first one."

It is still a simple and friendly writing style. Even the narrative method is like "Flower Season and Rainy Season", allowing characters who appear one after another to calmly explain everything happening around them from a first-person perspective, until the thoughts surging in their hearts, the culture between nations and races And economic contrast, the world of two people structured by marriage and love. Yu Xiu uses a smart pen and a pair of keen eyes to observe and discover the beauty in the daily life faced by students studying in the United States, as well as their bitterness, sourness and sweetness. Yu Xiu used some serious thinking and tried to let people understand the true mental journey and spiritual outlook of this generation of international students in a relaxed way. In a sense, she was successful.

Critic Li Jiefei said that "Sunbird" is a novel full of youthful vitality. Compared with the works of many domestic authors of the same age, it is simple and full of upward spirit and less tainted with hedonism. Breath--this is one of the reasons why it reminds me of the word "youth".

Yu Xiu, female, was born in 1974. She moved to Shenzhen in 1984 with her parents’ job transfer. After graduating from high school in 1993, he enrolled in a degree program jointly organized by Shenzhen University and Edmond College in Seattle, USA. Now studying in the United States.

After spending ten years in Shenzhen, with the unique perspective of a female middle school student, I observed the profound impact of social changes in the Special Administrative Region on education and young people. I had a unique experience of the rich lives of boys and girls in the Special Administrative Region, and generated strong creative ideas. impulse. He started creating with the encouragement of his teacher as soon as he was in high school. He finished it in rough draft in his senior year of high school and revised it before going to the United States in his sophomore year. The work almost simultaneously describes the lives of peers, with strong campus color, special zone concepts and advanced consciousness, opening a new page for middle school students to write novels for middle school students.