Julie O'Yang

A shamelessly original work of art that you can read legally outside China.*****

Julie O’Yang is a Europe-based author, artist entrepreneur and screenwriter. She grew up in China. She left for London in the 1990's and has lived in free exile since. Her work covers a wide spectrum. She draws inspiration from her background to create a new world. She is known for her bold, edgy and stunning approach to her subjects. O'yang currently works from The Netherlands and Denmark. She publishes in English, Dutch and Chinese.

www.julieoyang.com | www.tinyurl.com/doryaglenn | www.tinyurl.com/littleyellowbook

Butterfly is a historical crime love story set in the Second World War. Since May 2016 O'yang has been collaborating with Flemish photographer Filip Naudts on an art book project, which has resulted in The Picture of Dorya Glenn. For the eponymous photo novel the artist duo worked with a semi-transparent costume, in which O'yang posed nude in front of the camera. Find out more: www.julieoyang.com

"Butterfly is also about women and the problematic tropes of femininity at work in Chinese culture. A repeated motif in the book is the presence of the Buddhist Goddess Guanyin, a feminine figure of the divine who is of enormous importance in the popular religious imagination, and oddly powerful in a religion and culture more noted for favouring masculine power. But O’yang’s Goddess of Mercy is not the delicate beauty of Chinese iconography. She is cruel and occasionally whimsical, creating torments along with mercies. I must say I admired O’yang’s bravery in tackling this particular archetype of feminine perfection." Walter Mason, author and scholar

"This book is different. It reminds me of Haruki Murakami." The Vault of Books

"Transforms you, from cover to cover." Neverland.

"[I]n her tale, surrounded by inhumanity that is war, Julie O’Yang opens the dossier of the most human of all notions: love." Singapore Review of Books

"I found it hard to put it down until the very end." Vaani