archived news

Qiu Xiaolong's Chief Inspector Chen Cao Of Shanghai Police China's Latest Mystery
-- By ELAINE KURTENBACH, The Huffington Post

life in China can be so much stranger than fiction.
-- By Qiu Xiaolong, The New York Times

Searching for the Truth in a Place Made of Lies
-- By ELAINE KURTENBACH, The Wall Street Journal

Don't Cry, Tai Lake (May 2012)

'Tai Lake': Murder Most Ecological In China
-- by Maureen Corrigan, NPR

Espionage and mystery in modern-day China
-- By MARK SCHREIBER, The Japan Times

Sleuthing China's Environmental Scandals
-- By CLARISSA SEBAG-MONTEFIORE, The Wall Street Journal

Novel's polluted lake based on real Chinese problem
-- BY REPPS HUDSON, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Whodunnit gets green twist
-- By Caterina Bernadini, Shanghai Daily

Qiu Xiaolong's 'Don't Cry, Tai Lake' has a political edge, but endearing innocence
-- By Patrick Anderson, The Washington Post

Doing research for Don't Cry, Tai Lake, at Wuxi Cadre Recreation Center.

AUGUST 2010: In 2008, "Years of Red Dust" came out in France. In 2009, it was released in German, along with an ARTE TV documentary showing the scenes of the lane (see earlier entry) during the Frankfurt Book Fair. In the same year, the Chinese translation of it appeared, which was selceted by Asia Weekly as one of "ten best books in Asia" that year. The English version of this collection is coming out in September 2010.

Above and below, pictures of Qiu in the actual "Red Dust" lane.

MAY 2009: Qiu recently visited Shanghai and Beijing for a TV-ARTE documentary project. They shot scenes in a variety of locations, including his old home, the places Inspector Chen frequents, the Bund, old shikumen, and the lane upon which Red Dust is based. Qiu says that "it was an exhausting trip, but really fun, in the company of the wonderful producer, Cordula Paetzel."

QIU'S NEW BOOK, "YEARS OF RED DUST," SERIALIZED in LE MONDE in French, starting July 16, 2008.

MAY 2008: Qiu appears on Sexy Beijing, a popular program on China's #1 Internet TV station. He had nothing to do with it -- he was simply written into the program! The YouTube video is here. The caption calls him "the dreamy author of the Detective Chen mystery series."

Click on the links to read interviews with Qiu discussing his life and writings, and reviews of his books.

The Guardian names Death of a Red Heroine #1 Among the Top Ten Asian Crime Novels, September 2007 by Catherine Sampson

International Herald Tribune: "A Writer Trying to Solve His Own Mysteries, and China's," April 2007 by Howard W. French

Newsweek Q&A Interview: November 2006 by Barbara Koh

International Herald Tribune: "In Shanghai a Prism of Fiction Reveals Truth," November 2006 by Howard W. French

Wall Street Journal: The Five Best Political Novels of All Time, November 2006

NPR (National Public Radio) Interview: September 2006 by Louisa Lim