New York based writer Jennifer Cody Epstein has just published her first novel "A Painter from Shanghai" based on the life of Chinese painter Pan Yuliang. The book traces Pan Yuliang's tumultuous life and her relentless pursuit of artistic fulfillment against the backdrop of seismic political and social change in the China of the early 20th century. Jennifer's novel has been called "luminous" by the New York Times and Publishers Weekly says it "captivates to the last line". She recently "sat" down for an online interview with Shortcut to discuss her new book, her transition from journalist to writer, and what drew her to write about a woman a century and a continent removed from her.

Jennifer's book is available at Amazon.com

You are an American writer, based in New York. How did you hear about Pan Yuliang and what were your intentions in writing about her?

What is the perception of Pan Yuliang today in China? Do Chinese women perceive her as a role model or as a failure?

I think that within the context of women artists in general she’s finally fairly respected there—in large part because of a novel (HuaHun) that was written about her there and a movie (by the same title) starring Gong Li that came out about fifteen years ago. There might be some debate about whether this is solely due to her extraordinary story, rather than on the merit of her art; but I think the fact stands that while her subject matter and her history both remain controversial (as recently as the mid-90’s some of her nudes were taken down from an exhibition in Beijing) people recognize the phenomenal strength of character it must have taken for her to transcend her original circumstances and, not just paint, but paint what she wanted to. Regardless of the consequences.

There is, I think, a larger story somewhere here about women artists in China in general; for whatever reason they simply aren’t accorded the same acclaim and opportunities as male artists are (I’ve actually had a well-known Asian art collector tell me, bluntly, “I don’t collect female painters and I don’t know anyone who does”). I don’t think many would argue that compared to their male counterparts, Chinese women artists are largely absent from the current Chinese art “boom,” though why that is is also open to debate. I think there’s a really interesting study to be done on it, though.

Memoirs of a Geisha was an international bestseller and dramatized the life of a Japanese courtesan. It seems obvious to draw parallels between Memoirs and The Painter from Shanghai - do you feel comparisons are justified?

I’m really mixed on the subject. On the one hand, I loved Memoirs, and am flattered that anyone would compare me to what was so obviously an industry-changing novel. But it’s a little strange to be constantly compared (as I am) to a book that I actually don’t think has much in common with mine—apart from having an Asian prostitute at its heart. I was really trying to do something very different in Painter than talk about prostitution; in fact, I was far less interested in Pan’s experiences at the brothel than how they informed her development as an artist. And, of course, Japan and China are extraordinarily different countries and cultures (having lived in both I can say that with a fair degree of confidence!).

So I guess, in the end, it cuts both ways—if the comparison makes people who liked Memoirs take a look at my book then that’s good, obviously. But I’d have to say if they still feel like they’re similar after reading through, I’d be slightly disheartened—no one wants to live under someone else’s literary shadow (and Geisha casts a very long shadow!) And my favorite reviews—the New York Times, the South China Morning Post, the Huffington Post—are the ones that don’t make the comparison at all.

Politics, gender, art history, colonialism, war - the book touches on many complex subjects and covers a lot of ground - what particular aspects were the most difficult to write about and why?

In the 1920s and 30s Europe was an arts and culture mecca for educated Chinese (and other nationalities), a continent respected and admired for its artistic achievements and innovations. What does Europe represent to young Chinese today you think?

That’s an interesting question! I actually would probably have to ask young Chinese today for the answer, as most of the people I spoke to for this project were academics. But I do know that there is a lot of movement between China and Europe in the art world; if you look at the resumes of some of the top Chinese artists many (if not most) of them have spent some time in Paris or Italy, studying. So I’d imagine that at least as far as art goes, Europe is still an arts mecca at least.

You've lived in hong kong - did you draw on your experience in Asia to write about China or did you spend some time in Shanghai and Nanjing researching the local culture?

I actually lived in Asia for a total of seven years, and spent a good four more studying Asian history and culture at college and graduate school. In terms of China in particular--I’d backpacked through parts of it as a college student, and when I lived in Hong Kong I made frequent trips to Guanghzhou, Shenzen and Shanghai (I had a boyfriend there for a while, which was good motivation!). During the specific decade in which I was working on this book, though, I unfortunately couldn’t afford—on many levels—to go back. I made do with hiring researchers, reading everything I could get my hands on on China, and doing a lot of internet “journeying” –which was hugely helpful.

The wonderful thing about Google is that while you do have to check the sourcing of a lot of the information very carefully, there is pretty uninhibited access to images; I was able to download hundreds of images of Shanghai and China from the time period of my book (including Pan Yuliang’s own paintings), which were all enormously helpful to draw upon.

You were a journalist before turning to writing fiction. Why did you switch from journalism to fiction? Was it a difficult transition?

It was difficult—but also, for me, inevitable, I thought. I always wanted to write novels-pretty much from when I could first read them. But I was afraid—as I think many writers and artists (although obviously not Pan Yuliang!) are to take the leap; which is primarily why I ended up in journalism for so long. It wasn’t easy to go from a steady paycheck and standard measures of success and accomplishment to something as completely subjective and risky as writing a novel (a lot of people thought I was crazy, actually). But I knew if I didn’t do it now I would probably miss the boat completely.

I did find being a journalist helped a lot in terms of learning to economize with language—and, essential for this book—to research and interview effectively. The fact that I’d gone to school for International Relations and was used to writing about people in different places and worlds made it slightly easier to take on something of this magnitude of difference from my own life. I do think that as a journalist it’s probably that much harder to let yourself veer from fact. For better or for worse, though, as I’ve said, there was really limited fact to work with in Pan Yuliang’s case; so it forced me to take leaps I probably would never have dared otherwise.

Pan Yuliang lived in a time of great upheaval for China. Today China is experiencing another period of economic and societal shifts that are redefining its relationship with the West and especially the US. Were you influenced by current events in your writing? And do you see your book contributing on some level to the debate about China's "new" role in the world?

For me, the book was largely born of my fascination with cultural shifts and mergings and interactions between cultures and countries. I’ve always been intrigued—particularly from my first few years living in Japan—with the way that bits of American and European culture (as well as, obviously, Chinese culture, though obviously on a much grander scale) find their way into first the fringes, then the mainstream of intellectual, cultural and political life and resurface as things completely unique and fascinating in their own right, with attributes from both cultural “parents” but identities that are singularly their own. Pan Yuliang’s art was one terrific example of this for me; the way that not only her actual technique and subject matter reflected the changing tide in China’s art world but the fact that she, as a woman, could make the kinds of statements that she did, coming from where she did—that, too, was the result of a breakdown of traditional, Confucian ideas on gender and identity under more modern, Western ways of thinking.

It seemed to me that by studying how her work came to be, you could also study the way those different cultural currents interacted, and play with the way that they might have mixed and clashed.

I don’t think I was influenced specifically by current events in writing Painter so much as aware of the fact that—as they say—history does repeat itself; and in many ways the China we see today, while certainly facing different challenges than that of the period I was writing about, is also facing a huge task of reconciling various—and at times, downright oppositional—facets of tradition and modernity in order to continue on. Similar stories to Pan Yuliang’s are probably being played out on a daily basis everywhere on large and small scales; different venues, different conflicts, different resolutions, of course. Not just in China, but everywhere. But the process of somehow melding the old and the new, the known and the foreign into something unique and valid continues. (And of course, if my book can contribute to that in any way I’d be more than flattered!)

It's been quiet on the interview front at Shortcut, but here's a special treat: I've talked childhood friend Linda Heydegger into letting me interview her about her work as a painter and showcase some of her pieces in digital form on the site. Linda's been painting and drawing since i first met her at age 11 and she's done so with increasing success. Her last exhibition, a series of still lives, was a delightful amalgam of mundane objects set off by dazzling colours: these are household items glimpsed perhaps casually on kitchen tables across Europe, but rendered with fastidious detail and arranged sensually like objets d'art before the viewer. Each piece barely bigger than a large-sized envelope, the still lives evoke a series of postcards conveying multiple domestic worlds, each with its inherent cultural flavor. And yet these multiple, disparate words, nudged into careful composition and bathed in glistening colours, converge into fundamentally the same vision: an image of home.

Linda was born in Basel but raised between Arizona, Germany, Switzerland and now lives in France.

Read the interview or enter the gallery

Shortcut: You've been painting for years and have had several exhibitions. At what point did painting become more than a hobby for you?

Shortcut talks to Graham Holliday, journalist and (food) blogger

You recently attended the WE MEDIA conference in London - what was your impression of the event? What did you think of the interaction between traditional media representatives and bloggers?

What interaction between old media and bloggers? Was there any? Not much that I can remember. The most useful conversations took place outside the auditorium and, at least for me, that was mainly between bloggers and new media folk. Having said that, I did get to have a chat with Monique Villa, one of the Heads of Reuters and a bunch of other old media folk. I tried not to look at name badges too much.

However, the whole set up was very much 'top down' which is not at all reflective of what's going on in media these days. Although, I must say I had a fantastic time. I finally got to meet some people, like Rebecca McKinnon from Global Voices for example, whom I've been corresponding with for years. So, on a personal level it was very useful just for that face to face element. I just think the conference itself should have been less of a lecture. I think they should take a leaf out of Global Voices way of doing things for the next one. More on that here

You ran your own blog "noodlepie" out of Vietnam. What brought you to Vietnam and why did you stay as long as you did?

I was living in Korea in 1996/97. I went to Vietnam on a 3 week holiday, I'd long had an interest in the country. I quite liked the place during my holiday and so I decided to see if I could go there to live and work for a bit. Initially I was thinking of going for around six months to a year or so. I was then planning to move to Argentina. I ended up staying in Vietnam for 9 years. I stayed predominantly because I met my wife in Hanoi in 1998. Her job kept her in Vietnam for a while.

Go to interview 

shortcut talks to fernando couto, graphic designer and berliner

A Portuguese graphic designer living in Berlin - how did that particular combination happen?

Well, it is the result of chance, actually.

In 2002 my wife received a ten-month scholarship to study here at the University of the Arts. She came and I stayed back in Portugal, working as a freelancer and dropping by once in a while to be with her. Of course the city is really appealing and we discussed the possibility of moving to Berlin on a permanent basis, but since we enjoyed so much the life we had in Porto and she was planning to stay here for just two semesters, we decided to keep with this arrangement. Also at the time I was learning Japanese, so Germany was not at all part of my plans; at least not to live. I wanted to move to Japan for a couple of years and experience the culture. But that didn't happen.

Read on 

How did a Thai girl get involved with European giant Benetton?

It's a bit of story, but in a nutshell:  after I finished graduate school (Interactive Telecommunications Program, New York University), I was lucky enough to be selected as part of a team from NYU to do an art installation project in Nice, France at MAMAC (Musée d'Art Moderne et d'Art Contemporain).  At the end of the 5-week residency, my partner (Mark Argo) arranged for a short visit to Fabrica, which is located near Venice, in Italy.  So the team, which is myself, Mark Argo (www.markargo.com), and another artist Daniel Hirschmann (www.plankman.com), showed up at Fabricaand did a little show-and-tell of our work.  A few short months later, we were all back at Fabrica as research fellows for the Interactive department.  Fabrica is a creative research center sponsored by Benetton, so that's how I am connected with Benetton.  And no, we don't design the clothes.  :) 

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You're doing a worldwide project on visual artists' living conditions - how did you get started on this topic?

It was the situation I found myself in after finishing my studies as an artist and wanting to continue working in this field. The fact that artists have to struggle to be able to survive AND produce art is known, a cliché even, but I had the feeling that although practically all of us face this dilemma at least at the beginning of our careers, there is not much discourse whether in the art community and even less in the general public.

Much of our identity nowadays is channeled through work and my question here is how are we supposed to be liable and have credit as artists and how are we to produce art if a lot of our time and energy goes to working odd jobs, often working several jobs at a time.

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Let's start with the serious stuff  -  we know what Danes think about the cartoon crisis, we know what
Americans think by and large, and we certainly know what the Arab world thinks of it. You're an Indian living in Copenhagen, what is your take on it?

India is very multicultural, essentially we all get along, unless there's political incitement that fuels discord and violence. I, along with other Indian and Pakistani friends, think it was stupid to publish it, it reflects ignorance. "Freedom of speech" as a justification is not enough. And in any case, if you do publish potentially incendiary material, you have to accept the consequences. The response in Denmark was very defensive, there is still only a rudimentary understanding of how a globalized world works - Denmark is not used to being in the spotlight and certainly is not used to widespread criticism of its values. But today what happens in a small country can set off a powerful chain reaction.

I read in a newspaper poll that more than 50% of Danes think the cartoons should not have been published. In the end it is a matter of judgement and in this case, a lack of judgement on the part of the editors. That said, the punishment - the firebombing and death threats - certainly didn't fit the crime!

I'm fairly sure that most of the violence was orchestrated by the respective Arab governments. Many in the Arab world are dissatisfied with their corrupt, ineffective regimes and the governments just gave that street anger an occasion to vent. There's a good thing to all this though, which is that all sides are now more aware and will think twice next time.

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shortcut talks to ben curtis, podcaster and spain aficionado.

TRAVEL TALES: Ben has penned a book on his experience of moving to Spain and making himself at home there. Read about house buying, inlaws and the most beautiful street in the world here.

What was your image of Spain before arriving there? Lives punctuated by tortillas, flamenco and siestas?

I used to imagine drunken Brits getting into trouble on the Costa del crime, bullfights, dusty plains and jugs of Sangria!

What was the most surprising thing about Spain once you got there?

The total lack of immigrants. There were no coloured people in Madrid when I arrived, just Spaniards, and a few western Europeans and South Americans. All that has changed now, but it was quite a shock after the London suburb of Brixton, where as a white Englishman I was in the minority.

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shortcut talks to michael scott moore, berlin contributor and budding novelist

1. You're a writer because....?

Not writing depresses me.

2. Your first novel "Too much of nothing" - how did the book come into existence?

The book started with a memory. One scene in the novel, where two kids chop down a tree, is semi-autobiographical. Everything spun from that. Soon I had a story about two delinquents in California that would make a pretty good satire of American counterculture, especially if I pushed it -- which is why one kid, the narrator, winds up dead. I had no idea until my manuscript was making the rounds in New York that someone else had a book with a ghost narrator. That was The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold.

3. Ich bin ein Berliner - does that apply to you by now?

"I am a jelly donut." Yes.

4. Role models? Or do you recommend not having any?

Robertson Davies and Julian Barnes have their fingerprints all over Too Much of Nothing. Davies' second-to-last book is Murther and Walking Spirits, and that's where I got the ghost-narrator idea. But he pulls it off a lot better than me (or Alice Sebold), mainly because he really believed in ghosts. I don't.

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shortcut talks to johanna erla, designer and roving ambassador for iceland

What are Icelanders really proud of? Bjork?

We’re a proud nation so there are a lot of things I could mention. Of course it’s great how many artists are doing well abroad, especially in music, following into Bjork’s footsteps (who is without doubt the most famous Icelander). But we’re also very proud of our nature; pure water and clear sky that give us strength and creativity.

Icelanders are perceived as either taciturn or crazy (see Bjork above) - what's the real picture?

I guess we’re a little bit of everything! Bjork though does not portray the typical Icelander , I don´t really think she could resemble herself with any nation at all – she’s one of a kind!

What made you leave Iceland and go to Milan?

click for full interview