Chinese female writers have been prolific in probing into the hidden oblivious corners of society and present them to the public.

A new novel Redemption of Breasts has aroused empathy in the hearts of some Chinese, who now understood more about the fragility of life after the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

The doctor-turned woman writer, Bi Shumin, tells of how a group of patients with breast cancer struggle to fight both physical and mental afflictions.

"Writers must pay more attention to common people, especially those who are easily ignored in society," said Hong Ying, a female writer born in the 1960s in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.

One of her famous novels Daughter Suffering from Hunger portrayed on how a woman born in the 1960s in Chongqing suffered from hunger and emotional depravation, and how the experience afflicted her life. The book has been translated into 21 languages and published in Japan, Israel and many European and American countries.

Some female writers have benefited from their commercial success.

Jin Renshun, a previously unheard-of writer in northeast China, became famous overnight after one of her novels, Green Tea, was adapted to movie by Zhang Yuan, a prestigious movie director in China, with an all-star cast including Chinese actor-cinematographer Jiang Wen and television actress Zhao Wei.

The novel, Green Tea, tells of a woman who in the daytime was a conventional bespectacled office lady, but turned into a totally different woman at night, becoming dissolute as she dated a number of different men, each time ordering a cup of green tea.

However, there is also criticism on female writing. Some critics worry female writers are catering for the tastes of men and lavish too attention describing sex scenes.

(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2003)