Hello one and all, this month’s newsletter is packed with stories, poems and, much more so than usual, top notch podcasts for your all reading and listening pleasures. We’d also like to plug another newsletter we’ve been reading and loving recently, The Slow Chinese 每周漫闻, which is a resource to help you learn, use, and understand Chinese language the way people speak it today. The link there is for one recent instalment, but there are many, many more you can choose from on the site.
Also, some of you may have noticed in our annual roll call for 2021 that, for the first time, we included links to lists of published translations into other languages besides English. We would like to do more to promote and work with translators and publishers of Chinese fiction working in other languages, so this month we have the pleasure of sharing a roundup of news about Chinese literature in Spanish, from (China traducida y por traducir in collaboration with DIGITRANS, which can be found beneath the usual news pieces. Unfortunately, some of the events mentioned in this roundup have already passed, but do keep your eyes out for similar happening in the future.
And last but certainly not least, just in case you’ve managed to miss the announcement, the Paper Republic Guide to Contemporary Chinese Literature is out now and available to purchase in paperback and ebook form. Known affectionately as The Guide, the publication features detailed biographical entries covering almost 100 of the most important writers working in the Chinese language today, alongside in-depth essays on topics like the role of the author, women’s writing and Sci-Fi. We’ve already held one successful launch event in partnership with Aberdeen University Confucius Institute, and we have another coming up on Wed April 27th with China Institute, as well as one more in the works for anyone who is London-based (keep your eyes peeled for details about that). If you have questions or issues re: buying the Guide or registering for the event, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at info@paper-republic.org
Thanks for reading!
Extracts, stories and poems:
- Read the soaring dust of the mortal realm by Fei Ming or the car is backing up, please pay attention by Xiao Xi, both translated by Yilin Wang
- Check out the stories featured by The Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing for their author of February, Yan Ge
- You can find new poetry and literature in issue seven of *Spittoon), and make sure to keep your eyes peeled for future issues
- More new poem translations on Columbia Journal, by Liu Changqing and Qin Guan, tr. Aiden Heung
- “A Reader of Translations (With Chinese Characteristics)” by Shen Danqi, tr. Dave Haysom
- Check out Carlos Rojas’s introduction to novelist Yan Lianke’s new nonfiction book Discovering Fiction
- Read Can Xue’s story “The Old Cicada” and learn about cicada’s along the way
- Yu Xiuhua (余秀华) has written the poem “Prayer” in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, tr. Ying Bao
- Gushi has a new translated story available here
- An extract from Murong Xuecun’s new book Deadly Quiet City
- Translator Canaan Morse reads from Ge Fei’s Peach Blossom Paradise
- “To a Poet Who Hasn’t Responded for a Long Time” from Pee Poems by Lao Yang, tr. Joshua Edwards & Lynn Xu, here reviewed by Nick Admussen
- A new translation by Dylan Levi King of Zheng Zaihuan’s “Hi-Lee-Bon”
News:
- Explore the new site So You Want to Write Wuxia full of wonderful resources and articles
- Congratulations to Shanna Tan, Kenny Yim, Sandra Chen and the rest of the mentees for being accepted onto the ALTA mentorship programme
- Longevity Park by Zhou Daxin, tr. James Trapp, nominated for the Dublin Literary Award
- Wild Grass Bookstore closes in Beijing
- Three danmei translations makes the New York Times. Centered around romantic and sexual relationships between men, “danmei” is wildly popular in China, and now it’s a hit abroad, too
- Shen Yang in conversation with Nicky Harman on being born illegal
- Yilin Wang, Winner of the inaugural Tafseer Chapbook Prize, will be releasing her inaugural chapbook, The Lantern and the Night Moths / 灯与夜蛾, this year
Reviews and releases:
- Chinese short stories picked for A Personal Anthology include stories by Wang Xiaobo, Shen Dacheng, Ho Fok Song and Lu Xun
- Megan Walsh on Understanding China Through Its Literature and her new book, The Subplot: What China Is Reading and Why It Matters, with TWO podcasts available here, here and here, and an article on “How China’s Fiction Writers Have Learned to Survive Its Politics” here
- Books and Bao talks about Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang
- Sensing the Sinophone: Urban Memoryscapes in Contemporary Fiction is out soon with Cambria Press
- Ninth Building by Zou Jingzhi, tr. Jeremy Tiang, publishes next month w/ Honford Star
- Xue Yiwei’s new book reviewed by Megan Walsh, and also here by Xu Gang
- To celebrate the release of Strange Beasts of China in paperback, Yan Ge talks about Anna Karenina, Audre Lorde, and Dream of the Red Chamber
- Jia Zhangke on Jia Zhangke, tr. Michael Berry, is out now
- A review of Liu Zhenyun’s Yi Ri San Qiu (Laughter and Tears: A Novel)
- Find out which translation from the Chinese Esquire has named on of the 50 best fantasy books of all time
- Rouge Street, by Shuang Xuetao, tr. Jeremy Tiang, in Harper’s
Media:
- Chen Qiufan on Science Fiction as a Weapon of Storytelling (paywalled)
- Learn about “The Fonts That Made China’s Digital Revolution Possible” and watch a conversation w/ Kingdom of Characters author jing Tsu
- An interview with Yan Ge
- A conversation with Xueting Christine Ni, editor and translator of Sinopticon: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction
- Chen Congzhou remembers Xu Zhimo, one of the most celebrated Chinese poets of the 20th century
- Translator Jenna Tang joins the TrChFic podcast for an episode on Faraway by Lo Yi-Chin, tr. Jeremy Tiang
- A recording of Steve Bradbury’s lecture on Taiwanese literature in translation at OU
- A podcast by Sabina Knight on Daoism and Confucianism in Chinese literature and Anti-War Poetry
- Shelly Bryant in Conversation with Susie Gordon about editing translations, and another here on Titles and Poetry
- A talk on China’s Battler Poetry (打工诗歌) and the Hypertranslatability of Zheng Xiaoqiong
- Rachel Cordasco on why We Need More Speculative Fiction in Translation
- More podcast episodes of TrChFic: audiobook producer Nicola Clayton and voice actor Sarah Lam talk about Selected Stories of Xue Mo here and Steve Bradbury talks about Amang and Raised by Wolves here
- Read about “The Making of China’s Web Fiction Epics” on SixthTone
- A podcast about Techno-Orientalism and the portrayal of “Asian futures, without Asians”
March Newsletter (China traducida y por traducir in collaboration with DIGITRANS project)
Events:
- PUEAA at UNAM organises an online seminar on “Literatura china y género” every Thursday from 20 January till 19 May.
- Literary seminar series Between Languages: Authors through their translators, at Shanghai’s Biblioteca Miguel de Cervantes. The first exchange between Yan Lianke and translator Belén Cuadra Mora, moderated by Allen Young, has been postponed due to the pandemic.
- Ai Weiwei’s exhibition in Bogotá, Galería La Cometa.
News:
- Literary translation scholarships in Catalan (deadline has passed, but keep your eyes out for this in the future).
- The Chinese-Spanish literary translation workshop (online) taught by Anne-Hélène Suárez Girard, organised by the Centro Internacional Antonio Machado, took place on 4-5, 11-12 March.
- Hybrid conference by Liao Yanping “Palabras en manos de mujer: puentes entre Oriente y Occidente”, held on 8 March at 18:30, Arús Public library, Barcelona, a recording is available to watch via the link
Reviews and releases:
- Publication of Un zoo en el fin del mundo by Ma Boyong, tr. from Chinese by Anne-Hélène Suárez Girard. A review has appeared in Todo literatura.
- Publication of Liu Cixin’s Sobre hormigas y dinosaurios, tr. from Chinese by Agustín Alepuz.
- Publication of Lan Lan’s El trabajo del poeta tr. and ed. from Chinese by Radina Dimitrova, Ediciones UACh.
- Publication of Bitácora del encierro (previously appeared online), by Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana and Instituto 17. Includes poems and essays by Fang Fang, Yan Li, Deng Anqing, Yu Jian, Wu Ang, Lan Lan, Han Dong, Lin Bai, Yang Lian and A Yi, tr. from Chinese by Radina Dimitrova.
- Publication of El sueño chino by Ma Jian, tr. from English by Cruz Rodríguez Juiz, published by Random House. Reviews have appeared in Revista Zócalo, El Confidencial and El Español.
- ABC publishes a review of Canción celestial de Balou by Yan Lianke, tr. from Chinese by Belén Cuadra Mora.
Media:
- The TXICC group at UAB launches Chinese literature and culture related videos every second and fourth Thursday of each month. The most recent videos are on jinju, South-east Asian Sinophone literature and on Hong Kong Sinophone literature.
- Interview with Ai Weiwei in El Tiempo.
- The Mexican publisher Elena Bazán discusses indirect translations of Chinese literature in Spanish and recommends looking for direct translations.
- Sílvia Fustegueres discusses Yiyun Li and Lao She’s works (in Catalan).
- Video of the conversation between Yan Lianke and Ricard Planas at the Festival MOT 2022 (Olot), held on 18 March.