Shan Sa

Shan Sa is the pseudonym of Yan Ni (born October 26, 1972 in Beijing, China), a French author and painter. The Girl Who Played Go was the first of her novels to be published outside France, and won the Prix Goncourt des Lycéens (a prize voted by secondary school students). Her second novel to appear in English translation was Empress (2006). She was awarded chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in July 2009 and chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite in May 2011. Shan Sa is also a painter with exhibitions in Paris, New York, and Shanghai.