Sun Wei

One of China’s Most Original and Leading Voices

A former journalist, documentary filmmaker, and corporate general manager, Sun Wei is a novelist who tells stories of the most authentic contemporary Shanghai.

The 23 books she has published include the novels “Janus in Summer” “The Map of Time” “Person in a Bottle” “To Where the Flowers Blossom” “The Confession of a Bear”, the novella collection “Maze with no Exit” and the short story series Sun on Riches: “The Rich in China” “In the Name of Love” “The Adventures of Mary Qian” “Showcase of the Wealth” “Love and Desire”, the short story collection “Love in the Present Tense” “A Hundred and One Ways to Give Yourself Up” “I am the Girl with Itchy Feet” “Early Birds Get the Bullet”, among others. 

Her novels have won dozens of awards, including the Excellence Award of Chinese Writers’ Erdos National Literature Award, Excellence Award Winner for Novella of Beijing Literature Excellence Awards for Literature Works. Her novel “The Map of Time” is a best-seller in China 2017. 

Both “The Map of Time” and “Person in a Bottle” are in the process of being adapted into TV series and movies by the director Zhang Yibai, who is a representative of sixth generation directors in China. Her short story “Good Luck” is in the process of being adapted into a movie.

The English version of “The Confession of a Bear” was published in the US. Her novella "Farewell" "Ignition" "Second Son" was translated into English, French, Spanish, Bulgarian, and published in the local literature journals. 

As one of the Shanghai middle class, Sun Wei is acutely tuned to the many psychological issues of Chinese urban dwellers, and her works vividly reflect their loneliness, pride and sense of alienation. The tension and horror of contemporary life that Sun Wei’s fiction reveals has caused a sensation in recent years.