杨本芬 (YANG Benfen),1940年出生于湖南湘阴,17岁考入湘阴工业学校,后进入江西共大分校,未及毕业即下放江西农村。此后数十年为生计奔忙,相夫教子,后从某汽车运输公司退休。花甲之年开始写作,在《红豆》《滇池》等刊物上发表过短篇小说。2020年出版的处女作《秋园》,讲述了主人公秋园这位普通中国女性一生的故事,并以她的经历串联起百年中国的沧桑,深情而悲悯地描绘了底层乡间人物对苦难的承受与抵抗。此书一经出版,便在读者中引起不小的反响。
It’s very rare to hear a grandma of that generation describe the quiet despair in a loveless marriage with such heartbreaking honesty, even though what she described was very common then, in a patriarchal society that also openly discriminates based on caste/family history. Bearing and caring for multiple children stopped this bright young woman from getting an education or stable source of income, effectively trapping her in the marriage, but the children also then became her only source of joy and hope. It’s so bittersweet in her 80s, she can finally write and publish and tell her powerful stories, with the help of her daughter.