Linda Jaivin


Linda Jaivin is an American-born Australian translator, essayist, novelist and sinologist.

Early life

Linda Jaivin was born in New London, Connecticut to a Jewish family of Russian heritage. Her grandfathers were Jewish refugees from Tsarist Russia, who emigrated to Argentina and the United States. Her interest in China led her to undertake Chinese studies at Brown University in Rhode Island. She moved to Taiwan in 1977 to deepen her knowledge of Chinese culture and language. Moving to Hong Kong in 1979, her first job there was editing textbooks for Oxford University Press. She worked for Asiaweek magazine, where she met the Australian scholar Geremie Barmé, whom she later married. They returned to Canberra, Australia in 1986. They divorced in 1994. She now lives in Sydney.

Work

Jaivin has written a memoir of her experiences as a translator in China, The Monkey and the Dragon, as well as a number of novels. She co-edited an anthology on dissident writers in China, New Ghosts, Old Dreams:Chinese Rebel Voices with Geremie Barmé, in 1992. Jaivin has contributed to a number of magazines including the Australian magazine of politics and culture, The Monthly. She wrote for the Quarterly Essay Found in Translation: In Praise of a Plural World in November 2013. She has subtitled many Chinese films, including Farewell my Concubine and The Grandmaster. Jaivin has been a guest on the ABC radio program The Book Show and a panelist on Q&A and other programs.

Novels

Non-fiction