Source: English Pen (8/22/23)
China’s premier female author Tie Ning wins PEN Translates grant from English Pen
The Buttonless Red Shirt (没有纽扣的红衬衫), her bestselling novella, will be translated from Chinese into English by Annelise Finegan and published by Sinoist Books.
Distinguished Chinese author Tie Ning (铁凝) has been honoured with the prestigious PEN Translates Grant from English PEN. The award underscores Tie Ning’s contribution to the global literary landscape and highlights the importance of bridging cultures through the power of words.
“These thirteen books are significant works of literature – individually, in their quality; and collectively, in how they help shift the UK literary landscape. We have major figures – International Booker-winning authors and translators – sitting alongside exciting debut voices, with stunningly experimental work. The range of language and region represented is remarkable, but so too is the range of form, readership, theme and style. We’re thrilled to support these books, and excited for English-language readers to be able to buy them and enjoy them.” – Will Forrester, Translation and International Manager at English PEN
With an impressive body of work that has captured the hearts of readers in her native China, Tie Ning is known for the exquisite way she renders everyday people, and the realism she imparts, especially with her female characters.
The Buttonless Red Shirt is one of Tie Ning’s earliest successes. It’s a semi-autobiographical novella that draws on the relationship between the author and her sister. The novella documents both characters maturing into their roles. It conveys delicate and vivid descriptions of their lives while preserving the beauty contained in the trivial every day.
The book will be translated into English by Annelise Finegan, who said of the award:
“It is a great honour for this translation to have been chosen by English PEN and to be published by Sinoist Books. What a wonderful way to bring a beloved work by a renowned Chinese author to an English readership. I cannot wait to delve into the rest of the translation of Tie Ning’s vivid, incisive work.”
The Buttonless Red Shirt is due to be published in the UK in 2025.
About Tie Ning
Tie Ning (b.1957) is a novelist and the current chair of the China Writers Association. Since 1975, she has published over fifty novels and essay collections, earning prestigious awards and national recognition. Tie Ning is renowned for her realistic portrayal of everyday individuals, their universal struggles and triumphs.
About Annelise Finegan
Annelise Finegan has been working with some of Sinophone literature’s great female writers, including Lu Min, Hsu Yen Ling and most notably Can Xue. Her tranzslation of Can Xue’s Love in the New Millennium was longlisted for the 2019 Man Booker Prize. She has also worked on Tie Ning’s works before, having translated an excerpt from The Rose Gate in 2016.
About English Pen
English PEN exists to promote literature and our understanding of it, to uphold writers’ freedoms around the world, to campaign against the persecution and imprisonment of writers for stating their views, and to promote the friendly co-operation of writers and the free exchange of ideas. PEN Translates was launched in 2012, with support from Arts Council England, to encourage UK publishers to acquire more books from other languages.
About Sinoist Books
Sinoist Books is a UK-based Arts Council England-funded independent press that publishes only the best in translated Chinese literature and contemporary fiction. Its mission is to act as a bridge between the Chinese and English-speaking worlds, so that leading Sinophone authors and their works can transcend the language barrier.
Posted by: Daniel Li Daniel.li@alaincharlesasia.com