Born in Shandong in 1986, Shen Yang belongs to the millions of “invisible children” who violated the One-Child Policy and were forced to live in the shadows of the Chinese society. Her book More Than One Child: Memoir of an Illegal Daughter, which was translated by Nicky Harman and published by Balestier Press in 2021, provides a vivid account of the family planning era in China, as she writes down her journey towards overcoming the limits of her upbringing and forging her own identity amidst the difficulties of her childhood.

Shen Yang’s memoir More Than One Child tenderly unfolds an intimate and profoundly touching narrative that delves into the struggles of being an “excess child” (known as 黑孩子 hēi háizi “black child” in Mandarin) during the reign of China’s stringent One-Child Policy.

Book review from Nyla Daud (@daudnyla), Pakistani freelance journalist, translator and creative content/report writer who has taught in the LUMS Lifetime Learning programme.

While I was in Finland this October to promote the Finnish version of More Than One Child, I had the great honor and pleasure to be invited to Efter Nio, a popular Finnish talk show in Swedish, to share my experience as excess born child. A huge thank you to the amazing hosts Sonja Kailassaari and Janne Grönroos 💕

The author Shen Yang will visit Finland in connection with the Finnish publication of his book More Than One Child (Into 2023). The Finland-China Society organizes two events in cooperation with the universities of Turku and Helsinki, where the author Shen Yang and the translator Rauno Sainio discuss the book and its translation work from China into Finnish.

“More Than One Child” has been published in Arabic language by Al Arabi Publishing, and featured among their special titles at the Abu Dhabi Book Fair.

“More Than One Child” has been translated into Finnish by veteran translator Rauno Sainio (who “finnished” works from Yu Hua, Sanmao and many other famous Chinese authors), and will be published by the renowned Into Kunstannus Oy in September 2023.

GZERO Media asked Shen Yang to share her personal experience during the Shanghai lockdown in a lively video interview.

Shen Yang’s story has been featured on BBC “Deeply Human” Series Podcast, in an episode exploring how social hierarchies are formed and how they affect our daily life.

“More Than One Child” was featured in “Il Foglio”, one of the main national newspapers in Italy, with a lively article by writer, musician and filmmaker Vittorio Bongiorno.

PEN Transmissions is English PEN’s magazine for international and translated voices. In this article Shen Yang speaks to Nicky Harman about the One Child policy, “excess-birth daughters”, and her memoir, “More Than One Child”.

Book review from fellow author Karin K. Jensen, author of the upcoming memoir: “My Name is King Ying: One Girl’s Transpacific Quest of Resilience, Survival, and New World Dreams”.

More Than One Child receives another authoritative review, this time by Rosie Milne on Asian Review of Books.

Sophia Yan, China Correspondent from The Telegraph, interviews Shen Yang over “More Than One Child”, discussing her turbulent childhood during China’s one-child policy along with the current state of family planning in China, Shen Yang’s friendships with other fellow excess children, and the long lasting impact of the one-child policy in Chinese society today.

On December 1st 2021, the Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing invited Shen Yang and Nicky Harman to discuss about “More Than One Child”. The talk will cover the background of the book, the experiences of ‘excess children’ in China during the years of the One-Child Policy, and the process and challenges of translation.

In this short article for Asian Books Blog, Nicky Harman reflects on the unexpected impact of “More Than One Child” on both western and Chinese readers and some of their reactions to the story.

In addition to forcing millions of excess birth children into hiding, the One Child Policy also resulted in a huge gender imbalance that eventually resulted in the “Leftover Women” phenomenon. In this dual interview with Roseann Lake, author of “Leftover in China”, we discuss about the consequences of the policy, how our books came about and much more.

The Chinese branch of Royal Asiatic Society together with China Crossroads jointly organized a book launch and discussion event for “More Than One Child”. The event will feature a picture-rich talk by Shen Yang, a Q&A and book signing session. If you are in Shanghai don’t miss it!

Another excerpt, featuring the very 1st chapter from “More Than One Child” and complete with photos, has been featured on RADII, an “independent platform of artists, writers and creators dedicated to sharing vibrant stories from the rarely explored sides of China”.

Author and anthropologist John Traphagan interviews Shen Yang for NBn East Asian Studies Podcast. We discussed not only about how “More Than One Child” came to be, but also about the roots of Chinese preference for male offspring, the way illegal “heihaizi” shaped us until today, the reaction to the newly launched 3-child policy and much more.