Lu Xinhua 卢新华
Born in 1954, Lu Xinhua rose to prominence with his first short story, “Scar,” written in 1978 while he was a freshman studying Chinese literature at Fudan University in Shanghai. Examining the personal traumas inflicted by the Cultural Revolution, the work is widely regarded as the foundational text of the influential genre known as Scar Literature 伤痕文学.
The story’s publication brought immediate critical acclaim, and at just twenty-four Lu Xinhua became the youngest member of the Chinese Writers Association. After earning his BA from Fudan University, he chose to pursue journalism and literature rather than enter government service, working as a reporter at Wen Hui in Shanghai.
Lu Xinhua later studied East Asian Languages at UCLA and went on to cofound the Forum for the Reconstruction of Chinese Culture at the University of Macau. He has published several novels, including The Forbidden Woman and The Wounded Soul, as well as the extended essay Wealth Is Like Water.
He currently lives in California with his wife.
Capella Cao
Capella (Ying) Cao is an author, publisher, and translator whose life spans China, Japan, and the United States. She holds a BA in English, an MA in International Culture, and an MBA.
Her career has included international business, financial services, nonprofit work supporting survivors of domestic violence, and long-term project and operations management for the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.
Inspired by the regenerative landscape of Upstate New York, Capella founded Pine Bush Publishing to release “seeds” that connect people through language and story, bringing culturally rich voices to English-speaking readers. Her debut release as publisher and translator, Wu Lou by Lu Xinhua, received a 2024 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award.
Her upcoming original work, Wings & Roots: Wisdom from a Forgotten Garden, is a meditative, illustrated tale weaving Chinese proverbs with themes of resilience, healing, and belonging.
