A SHIMMERING SEA: HONG KONG STORIES tells of a quest for home, told through a vivid and lyrical sequence of narratives. Sophronia Liu chronicles first her beginnings in 1950s Hong Kong. Her parents -- each an indigenous inhabitant of a clan village -- had very different life-experiences from each other. Her father attended prestigious King's College as a scholarship student; her mother, an illiterate peasant, was fully occupied in raising ten children. Among the episodes, some tell of her growing up during the 1960s: of a grade school classmate's tragic suicide, the arrival of a rambunctious and feisty domestic helper from the countryside, plainclothes detectives who came to her home to solicit her father for a bribe. She tells of her mother's long illness, of turmoil and quarrels among family members. Some twenty years later, when Liu was a student in the American Midwest, memories of these people and places flooded back to haunt her. Responding to their call, Sophronia eventually returned to Hong Kong in 2006, to live near her native village and continue to write. She died on 14 January 2013, one day after her 60th birthday.
About the Author: Born in Hong Kong in 1953, SOPHRONIA LIU was the ninth child. Her parents were indigenous villagers from traditional clan villages in the Hong Kong New Territories. Sophie grew up with a sensitive awareness of the plight of women in traditional societies as well as an appreciation of her rural heritage. After attending both Catholic and Anglican schools in Hong Kong, she left Hong Kong in 1973 to pursue further education in the United States, where she initially supported herself with scholarships and part-time work. She received a Bachelor's Degree in English and French, and a Master's Degree in English from the University of South Dakota. In 1983, Sophie began her doctoral studies in English at the University of Minnesota. But her eagerness to explore the "wider world" led her to community organizing and theatre. She also worked actively with women of colour and Asian American women scholars and activists at the National Women's Studies Association (NWSA), spear-heading an anti-racism protest and mass walk-out from the organization's national conference in 1990. Subsequently, Sophie worked as a translator and interpreter for Chinese immigrants, while teaching workshops in Asian American Literature to Minnesota teachers, and serving on the Board of a number of community organizations. As an actor and playwright, she has worked with Theater Mu, Theatro Latino, and other Minnesota theaters. She was also a singer, storyteller and solo performance artist, giving regular performances at various Twin Cities venues. Sophie returned to Hong Kong in early 2007 to teach in universities there, until she was stricken with cancer in 2010. She passed away in Hong Kong on 14 January 2012, one day after her 60th birthday. She was awarded a posthumous PhD. in English for her writing project, "A Shimmering Sea: Hong Kong Stories".