Liu Xun

Liu Xun was born in 1974 in Nanjing. She learned artisan craftwork, worked as a designer and animator, and attended the Academy of Fine Arts. Many of her oil paintings have been awarded prizes at national exhibitions.
After the birth of her daughter, she began writing and illustrating her own picture books, six of which she has published so far. Two of them were presented at the Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair 2018: »Tooth, Tooth, Throw it on the Roof« (2014) and »Riddles« (2016), in which she juxtaposes the traditions of China’s urban regions with modernity. In »Tooth, Tooth, Throw it on the Roof«, a girl named Niuniu loses her first baby tooth. She learns from her grandfather that one should throw one’s tooth on a roof in order to grow tall and strong. While searching for a suitable house, Niuniu discovers a symbol in the alleys of many small shops and houses that means these buildings are intended for demolition. And cranes and construction machinery are already waiting outside the idyllic old quarter … Many questions now arise: Will the old house that Niuniu is throwing her tooth on still be there later or not? Will the tooth remain on the roof? And what will her new life look like? This picture book captures details and moments of transition and change, and also expresses the melancholiness that goes hand in hand with the end of traditions through urbanization. The book won the Feng Zikai Chinese Children’s Picture Book Award in 2015.
In 2015, Liu Xun joined other writers and painters in Nanjing to work on the epic picture book »The Year of Nanjing« in a comprehensive collaborative effort. She continues to work as a painter and teaches drawing to children.

Zähnchen, Zähnchen, auf das Dach!

Edition Bracklo

Gräfelfing, 2019

[Ü: Leonie Weidel]