Three (yes, that’s 3!) Paper Republic events in London in December
Tuesday December 6th: Poetry Translation Centre – Translation Workshop
Venue: Free Word Centre
Dave Haysom will be introducing raw crib translations of works by the poet Yu Youyou, before Clare Pollard workshops them into the stuff of poetry.
Monday December 12th: Dragonworld – Speed bookclubbing
Venue: Free Word Centre
Following our sell-out speed-book clubbing event in March, Read Paper Republic is delighted to be partnering with Free Word for a follow-up event with a fantastical flavour:
A police officer investigating a brutal murder interrogates his chief suspect, but the details of the crime itself are constantly shifting. A woman hopes a knight in shining armour will offer her an escape from the road she seems destined to pace forever. A dispute between two witnesses to a killing results in a fatal duel. A teenage gamer must find a way to deal with the concrete-hungry dragons that are somehow taking over his town.
Acts of violence punctuate these four works of contemporary Chinese fiction, but as the stories unfold it becomes increasingly difficult to differentiate fantasy from reality, the dream from the conscious. The rhythms of genre fiction are echoed and distorted in these category-defying tales of death, desire, and despair.
Discussions will be led by Nicky Harman, Dave Haysom, Emily Jones and Helen Wang. Find out more and download the stories (by Sun Yisheng, Zhu Yue, Zhang Yueran and Zhang Xinxin) at the Free Word Centre event page.
Friday December 16th: China Changing Festival at the Southbank Centre
China Changing is a new festival that “showcases contemporary China and its creative influence and connections with the UK through cutting edge art and culture, providing a platform for artists who are innovating whilst being informed by tradition and inspired by heritage.” Paper Republic will be involved in two of the public events:
7.00pm – China Fiction Bookclub – Nicky Harman leads a discussion of the Read Paper Republic story “Gu Jieming – A Life” by Han Dong.
8.30pm – Found in Translation: Phenomenal Fiction – Helen Wang chairs a discussion of contemporary fiction with authors writing from mainland, diaspora, and wider Sinosphere perspectives.