Simon Leys: Navigator Between Worlds

An award-winning biography of one of the greats.

Simon Leys: Navigator Between Worlds recounts the life of Pierre Ryckmans, known by his pen-name Simon Leys. Born in Belgium, Ryckmans settled in Australia in 1970, where he taught Chinese literature at the Australian National University and served as Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Sydney from 1987 to 1993. He passed away in 2015.

Writing in French, Chinese, and English, Leys played a significant political role by revealing the true nature of the Cultural Revolution. His insightful writings on China, as well as various literary and cultural topics, were featured in the New York Review of Books, Le Monde, Le Figaro Littéraire, Quadrant, and the Monthly. Among his notable books are The Hall of Uselessness, The Death of Napoleon, Other People's Thoughts, and The Wreck of the Batavia & Prosper. In 1996, he delivered the ABC's Boyer Lectures. Leys received numerous accolades including the Prix Renaudot, the Prix Mondial Cino Del Duca, the Prix Guizot, and the Christina Stead Prize for fiction.

This substantial biography, published by Gallimard in France to rave reviews and honoured with an academy award from the Académie Française, draws on extensive correspondence with Ryckmans, along with his unpublished writings. It has been translated by the internationally renowned French translator Julie Rose, who is based in Sydney.

'Leys was a writer of great virtue and great competence; he was obscure mainly in the minds of those who think of writing in terms of the bestseller lists. He was read by good readers in many parts of the world, and this was, I would guess, exactly what he wanted. Will this biography make him less "obscure"? I suspect that he would not have cared one way or the other; he would be serene about the matter. But for those of us who admire his daring, darting and capacious mind, I hope very much that it does.' — Julian Barnes