AWARD-WINNING novelist Ying Chen, 41, is planning to translate her French works into Chinese.

　　So far, Ying has been listed as one of the renowned writers in Quebec, Canada.

　　A graduate in French literature from Fudan University in Shanghai, Ying immigrated to Montreal in 1989. Then she earned a master's degree in creative writing from McGill University.

　　"By the time I graduated from McGill University, I had been immersed in the world of French literature. I always felt a strong impulse at the bottom of my heart for writing. Then I picked up French and began my writing career," Ying said.

　　"I poured out all my treasured feelings, my longing for my family and homeland, into my writing. At the very beginning, I'd spend 12 hours at a time writing. I found great pleasure in finding the exact words to tell my stories," she said.

　　Soon after she began writing, Ying finished five novels in French. Not knowing what to expect, she mailed all of them to a publisher in Montreal. The publishing house was impressed.

　　In 1992, Ying's first novel, Memory of Water, was published. It tells of several Chinese women's experiences in modern China.

　　In 1993, Ying published her second novel, Chinese Letters. This book portrays the experiences and emotions of a young Chinese man who immigrated to Quebec writing to the woman he loves back in China.

　　Parts of Chinese Letters were included in French college textbooks as selected reading materials. But Ying herself was not satisfied with the work.

　　"I just wrote down whatever I could think of. I didn't really get to the heart of what I wanted to pursue," Ying said.

　　1995 saw the birth of Ying's major work Ingratitude. The novel is a tragedy about a young woman in contemporary China who eventually commits suicide after failing to cope with the oppressive traditions of China and her mother's overbearing dominance.

　　Canadian and French critics hailed the novel as "an unprecedented way to describe the conflicts between two generations." Ying was praised for her ability to write about themes that transcend culture-specific domestic discord, human fears and emotions.

　　In the same year, Ying was nominated for a Governor's General Award and the Prix Femina. She received the Quebec-Paris Prize, as well as the Grand Reader's Prize of Elle Quebec. Ingratitude has been translated into English, Spanish, Italian and Polish.

　　After three years' silence, Ying published her fourth novel Immobile in 1998. She won the Alfred-DesRochers Prize for the work in 1999.

　　"This is real literature and I'm rather content with it. For my novel became somewhat abstract, and the background became a little obscure. What I really dealt with was the generality of human nature. What I wanted to express was that the alienation between human beings is not caused by external reasons such as social surroundings or race, but by the fundamental differences between each individual person," Ying said.

　　"It is hard to express something unspeakable and unexplainable in literature. I know that, but I've tried my best," she said.

　　In the first half of this year, Ying published her fifth work Cliffs.

　　Ying lives in the small town of Magog, which is about two hours' drive from Montreal. She says that she doesn't want to be controlled by the business factors in big cites. Instead, she wants to keep a peaceful mind to write anything she really wants to.

　　"All my inspiration for writing comes from my experiences and memories. My language skills developed form reading habits that I formed in my childhood. I've never stopped reading.

　　"My favorite time in a day is when I read a touching story and immerse myself in another person's life," Ying said.

　　She spares some time every week to read Chinese novels that she brought with her from Shanghai.

　　"Reading Chinese novels is the best reward I can give myself. I really enjoy the time I spend reading them," she said.

　　"Sometimes I regret not having writen a novel in my mother tongue," Ying said.

　　This is the reason, Ying said, that she decided to translate some of her French works into Chinese.

　　However, translation is a painful process of recreation for Ying.

　　"With so many years' use of French, my perception of Chinese is no longer as sharp. But give me some time, and I'll be able to do my best," Ying said.