Cheng Ching-wen, one of Taiwan’s leading authors renowned at home and abroad for his insightful works of fiction and short stories, died Nov. 4 aged 85 in Taipei City.
The winner of the 2005 National Awards of Art started his decadeslong career in 1958 with a submission published by Taipei-based United Daily News. He went on to produce a wide variety of texts masterfully commenting on changes in society by depicting the trials and tribulations of everyday people.
One of his final works, the eight-story “Green Pepper Sprouts,” took top prize for fiction in 2013 at Taipei International Book Exhibition.
Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun extended her condolences and described Cheng as a “national treasure.” His writings nourished the literary souls of readers around the world, she said, adding that the MOC is working to have him awarded a posthumous presidential citation.
Cheng accomplished many firsts as a Taiwan writer over the past 59 years. These include winning the U.S.-based Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize for the anthology “Three-legged Horse,” and having two short stories adapted into theater production “At the Time of Memorial Festival” by legendary local director Wu Nien-jen.
Published in 1998 by New York-headquartered Columbia University Press, “Three-legged Horse” features 12 of Cheng’s outstanding short fictions centered on the post-war lives of those disfigured during World War II. This theme of challenges to the human condition also appeared in 2010’s “At the Time of Memorial Festival,” which examined extramarital affairs over half a century ago within the societal context of the day.
According to Wu, Cheng was one of nature’s gentlemen who lived for putting pen to paper. His literature was a source of artistic inspiration and served as a personal wellspring of creativity, he said. (CPY-E)
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