Yan gelling biography

Chinese-American author and screenwriter (born 1958)

In this Chinese name, the family name is Yan.

Geling Yan (simplified Chinese: 严歌苓; traditional Chinese: 嚴歌苓; pinyin: Yán Gēlíng; born 16 November 1958^[1]) is a Chinese-American author and screenwriter.^[2]

Early life

Yan was born in Shanghai, China in 1958.

She is the second child of Yan Dunxun and Jia Lin. She has an elder brother Yan Geping (严歌平).^[3] Her father is an alumnus of the College of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University.^[4]

Yan began performing as a dancer at age 12.

She served in the People's Liberation Army in Chengdu, during the Cultural Revolution in Tibet and later as a journalist in the Sino-Vietnamese War, achieving a rank equivalent to lieutenant colonel.^[5]

Yan holds a bachelor's degree in literature from Wuhan University, and a Master's in Fine Arts in Fiction Writing from Columbia College Chicago.