Book description
In the aftermath of the massacre of a clan, an epic story of
self-sacrifice and revenge unfolds as a young orphan discovers the
shattering truth behind his childhood. Sometimes referred to as the
Chinese Hamlet and tracing its origins to the 4th century BC, The
Orphan of Zhao was the first Chinese play to be translated in the
West. James Fenton's adaptation of The Orphan of Zhao premiered with
the RSC at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon in November 2012.
James Fenton was born in Lincoln in 1949 and educated at Magdalen
College, Oxford where he won the Newdigate Prize for poetry. He has
worked as political journalist, drama critic, book reviewer, war
correspondent, foreign correspondent and columnist. He is a Fellow of
the Royal Society of Literature and was Oxford Professor of Poetry for
the period 1994-99. In 2007, James Fenton was awarded the Queen's Gold
Medal for Poetry. He is editor of The New Faber Book of Love Poems.
Yellow Tulips: Poems 1968-2011 was published by Faber and Faber in 2012.
