Nan and Akmaral, two young Asian students, attend Ace English Language Learning in Dublin. In the process of grappling with a weekend assignment from their teacher Aisling, to engage in an authentic conversation with a stranger, their perception of authenticity grows...
An Authentic Conversation by Yan Ge is broadcast this Sunday, 14 January, to coincide with the Chinese New Year, as part of the RTÉ Radio 1 series Spoken Stories Independence - listen above.
Writers invited to contribute a new story started out by thinking about what a consideration of independence might throw up today, where it might bring them, a hundred years after Ireland's War of Independence.
About independence and her new story, Yan Ge says: 'There is a curious dual aspect to a new immigrant’s life, your individualism which connects with your personal history diminishes while you are forced to present an often false and superficial stereotype of your native culture. The two girls in my story are trying to declare their independence from such stereotypes. On the other hand, they’re entangled with their personal histories, the shadows from their past that are cast over their new lives in Ireland.'
as the setting for An Authentic Conversation
Widely published writer Yan Ge was born in the Sichuan Province of China and writing stories in Chinese since the early 2000s. Her association with Ireland began romantically on 6 January 2014, the Epiphany and the date on which James Joyce's classic short story The Dead is set. On that day, she met an Irish man from Mayo, who was teaching in China. A year later to the day, they married. They lived in Ireland for a period and currently live in England, where Yan Ge recently completed an MFA at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich. In recent years she has been writing stories in English, including the one included in Being Various: New Irish Short Stories, the 2020 Faber-published collection edited by Lucy Caldwell. Yan Ge was a member of the 2019 Judging Panel of The Dublin Literary Award.
A commission for a translated version of An Authentic Conversation into Chinese Mandarin has been given to Sally Rooney's translator, Na Zhong. This will also be made available shortly as a podcast and read by Ashley Xie.
Spoken Stories Independence is a RTÉ landmark contribution to Ireland's Decade of Centenaries; the concept and this series was originated by Clíodhna Ní Anluain, who is also its producer, and made with support from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland and RTÉ.
Listen to more from Spoken Stories Independence here.
