Renowned writer Hualing Nieh Engle (聶華苓) passed away on Oct. 21 at the age of 99. Upon hearing the news, Minister of Culture Li Yuan expressed his sincere condolences and praised Nieh for her vision and dedication to promoting Taiwanese literature during the martial law period by facilitating international author exchanges.
Born in 1925 in Wuhan, China, Nieh graduated from Nanjing University in 1948 and moved to Taiwan the following year. She later became the literary editor for the magazine “Free China Journal (自由中國)” until 1960, when the magazine ceased publication because of political reasons. In 1964, she was invited to the University of Iowa as a visiting writer, and in 1967, she co-founded the International Writing Program with American poet Paul Engle. Over the years, this program brought more than 1,200 international writers to the U.S., including over 50 from Taiwan.
Nieh’s body of work includes novels, essays, translations, and literary criticism. In 2004, she published her memoir “Three Lives (三生三世),” which was expanded in 2011. Her most celebrated novel, “Mulberry and Peach (桑青與桃紅),” a modernist masterpiece, tells the stories of two women during times of war.
The Ministry of Culture paid tribute to Nieh, emphasizing her pivotal role in bringing Taiwanese literature onto the international stage.
(Photo credit: National Museum of Taiwan Literature)