Chinese Dissidents Sydney Writers Festival, The Australian. Uncertain date.

John Stapleton
THEIR lives have weaved together in unusual ways; from the days in the late 1980s and early 1990s when as virtual unknowns they used to gather for alcohol fuelled parties at a house near Sydney University. All were Chinese expatriates or descendents distressed by the massacre in Tiananmen Square. This week, after not having seen each other for many years, they are once again together at the Sydney Writer's Festival, their international reputations now firmly established.

Back in the 1980s, when her house became a gathering point for Chinese writers and artists, Mabel Lee was a lecturer in Chinese literature at Sydney University, little known outside her field. One of her guests, Yang Lian, was a revolutionary poet who had been banned in China but he and his wife Yo Yo were completely unkown in the West. How times have changed.

As a result of translating three of Yang Lian's poetry books into English Mabel Lee went on to meet Nobel Prize winning author Gao Xingjian, and to translate his revered novel Soul Mountain.

Yang Lian has published ten books of poetry and become a regular on the international literary circuit. His wife Yo Yo, too, has finally come into her own. Her first novel to be published in English, Ghost Tide, came out in March.

Sydney Writer's Festival director Caro Llewellyn said the presence of all three are a result of the determined inclusion of regional literature. ``This year we have a larger contingent from Asia than ever before. There is a lot of interest in Chinese literature in the West. China is the next big thing, as any economist or futurist will tell you, so for us to hear these voices is very important.''

For Mabel, Yang and Yo Yo, the significance is as much personal as literary. ``There were a lot of Chinese artists and writers in Sydney, and there were always parties here, almost every weekend,'' Mabel recalls of those events in her house more than 15 years ago. ``We would cook these huge vats of food, but no matter how much we cooked they would always demolish it. And they loved their liquor!!''

Yang remembers writing some of his most significant work at Mabel's house; where he would lock himself in the study for days at a time. ``This place was dramatically important to us, our first home outside of China. There were huge drinkings, huge cookings, I would get lost in Australian wines,'' he said.

Yo Yo, the pen name of Liu Youhong, is thrilled that once again Sydney has become her saviour; for it was through the workings of Mabel and local literary agent Lyn Tranter that her novel Ghost Tide has been published. She said when she flew in from the UK, where they now live, she was very emotional. ``As a writer in exile, I can call this place a home,'' she said. ``I get very sentimental. I feel some secret mystery link, Sydney is very very special.''

The Sydney Writer's Festival has gone from strength to strength since it began in 1998. There will be 241 separate events this year, up form 175 last year, as well as web casting of the major events. The festival itself expanded its geographical boundaries to incorporate events in Newcastle, Wollongong, the Blue Mountains and Sydney's western suburbs.