I Am China by Xiaolu Guo review – exile and uncertainty

Isabel Hilton on Chinese politics and culture across three continents: The Guardian

In 2010, the Chinese writer Liao Yiwu wrote an open letter to Angela Merkel, to express his deep disappointment that the Chinese authorities had prevented him from travelling to Germany to take part in a programme of literary events. In his letter, he imagines himself visiting Germany, but returning to China: “It is unimaginable,” he wrote, “that a writer would be able to do anything once he has left the place of his mother tongue.”