Translation

Cold Window Newsletter 1

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Paper Republic: The Cold Window Newsletter 1 (2025)
By Andrew Rule

Welcome to the first issue of the Cold Window Newsletter to be published on Paper Republic! This is the (extra-long) first installment of a new monthly collaboration that will be appearing in the Paper Republic feed each month. Read on for an introduction to the newsletter; a round-up of 2024’s most acclaimed Chinese short fiction; and profiles of two of China’s best literary suspense novelists.

Introduction: What is the Cold Window Newsletter?

I started this newsletter last fall because I wished that there were more spaces on the English-language internet dedicated to talking about Chinese-language writing that hasn’t been translated yet. For those of us who are interested in Chinese literature but do most of our reading in English, it’s hard to get a sense for what the Chinese literary world is buzzing about at any given time. And while excellent projects like Spittoon, the Leeds Center for New Chinese Writing Book Club, and Paper Republic itself can give you a snapshot of fiction from China that has already been translated into English, where can you go to hear about Chinese fiction that is still too new to be translated, or that may already have been waiting for years for the right translator to come along?

Thus was the Cold Window Newsletter born. Continue reading Cold Window Newsletter 1 →

Summer Translation Collaborative III

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Summer Translation Collaborative III
with Julia Keblinska and Patricia Sieber
May 12-16, 2025 (May 11 arrival, May 17 departure)
The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH, U.S.A., in person)

Developing modules for the “Chinese Theater Collaborative”

Fig.1 Excerpt from “Khubilai Khan Hunting” 元世祖出獵圖 (1280, by  Liu Guandao 劉貫道, painting); Courtesy of the open-source database of the National Palace Museum, Taipei

In this week-long workshop to be held on the OSU campus, CTC co-editors Julia Keblinska and Patricia Sieber will guide a small group of participants in authoring new modules for the Chinese Theater Collaborative (CTC) digital resource center. The program will feature presentations on how to handle different texts and diverse media, hands-on module development, and spirited peer review. This year’s workshop will focus on the modern afterlives of plays featuring Eurasian peoples, diasporic communities, ethnic minorities and foreigners (e.g., Jurchen, Mongols, Manchus, tribute delegations from around Eurasia, etc.) in any media (e.g., different traditional theatrical/operatic styles, spoken drama of any tradition, films, animation, TV drama, graphic renditions, prints, etc.). The goal is to create workable draft modules that can eventually be published on CTC.

We would like to recruit a lively cohort of advanced undergraduate and graduate students as well as recent MAs and PhDs. Required qualifications: Advanced command of modern Chinese, professional fluency in spoken and written English. Experience with translation, theater or other media is desirable, but not required. We welcome participants who are interested in developing either individually authored or collaboratively written modules. CTC modules are backed by scholarly research but presented in an accessible and visually appealing style to cater to a broad range of audiences. Continue reading Summer Translation Collaborative III →

Window to America

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The Chinese Film Classics Project is delighted to announce the publication of Yuqian Chen and Christopher Rea’s translation of the film Window to America (Meiguo zhi chuang 美國之窗, 1952).
https://chinesefilmclassics.org/window-to-america-1952/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gtQlxBQeQo

ABOUT THE FILM:

Are current conditions in the United States of America making you want to jump out the window? Not so fast—there’s money to be made…on your death! Window-washer Charlie Kent has just finished cleaning the last window of a Wall Street skyscraper, and, now facing indefinite unemployment, plans to jump to his death from that very window on the 42nd floor. Mr. Butler, the capitalist from whose office he plans to jump, persuades Kent to stop—stop long enough to let Butler & Co. turn his suicide into a live radio spectacle and sell advertisements, ostensibly so that Kent can leave his family a legacy. Advertisers come calling, including H-Bomb Cigarettes, Maclini’s Suits, Harriman Unbreakable Glasses (“When a man jumps from the 42nd floor wearing Harriman glasses, his body may break, but the glasses won’t!”), Green Horse Whisky, Atomic Hair-growth Ointment…even the Spiritualist Society, which signs an exclusive contract for post-mortem ownership over Charlie’s soul. All the deal-making builds suspense about the do-or-die moment at which we will find out: Will he jump? And, more importantly, will we get rich? Continue reading Window to America →

Paper Republic newsletter no. 20

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Image description

Happy Chinese New Year!

As we usher in the Year of the Snake, this vibrant and meaningful occasion is the perfect time to celebrate the richness of Chinese culture—and what better way than through the lens of its literature?

This issue brings you a feast of publications and media showcasing the brilliance of Chinese writing in translation. From fresh releases to interviews with translators and other news, we’re thrilled to spotlight stories and voices that resonate with the spirit of this festive season. Whether you’re an avid reader or simply curious about Chinese literature, there’s plenty to explore. So, grab a cup of tea, settle in, and let’s dive into the world of Chinese storytelling together!

Read online for free

  • Yan An’s poems “Territory” and “Empty Train” (translated by Chen Du and Xisheng Chen) were published online in Flyway: Journal of Writing & Environment (Iowa State University).

Events

  • Our 9th book club on modern Chinese literature with the Open University Book Club was on 17th January. Helen Wang joined us to discuss her translation of the short story “Ying Yang Alley” (鹰扬巷) by Fan Xiaoqing (范小青). If you missed it, you can check out the recording and transcript of the event here. And keep an eye on the website as we will be doing another book club in the next few months.
  • Don’t miss this masterclass and workshop by Nicky Harman and Yan Ge on 8 March 2025 at the Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing. Writing Lives: from China in the 1930s to Britain in the 2020s. Part 1: Presentation with Nicky Harman on Ling Shuhua and Life-Writing; Part 2: Creative Writing Workshop on Characterisation, with Yan Ge. Registration link now available here.

Continue reading Paper Republic newsletter no. 20 →

Soong Translation Studies award–call for entries

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CALL FOR ENTRIES
The 27th Stephen C. Soong Translation Studies Memorial Awards (2024–2025)

Introduction

Stephen C. Soong (1919–1996) was a prolific writer and translator as well as an active figure in the promotion of translation education and research. To commemorate his contributions in this field, the Stephen C. Soong Translation Studies Memorial Awards were set up in 1997 by the Research Centre for Translation, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, with a donation from the Soong family. They give recognition to academics who have made contributions to original research in Chinese Translation Studies, particularly in the use of first-hand materials for historical and cultural investigations.

Entry and Nomination

RCT invites Chinese scholars or research students in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan or overseas regions to participate in the 27th Stephen C. Soong Translation Studies Memorial Awards (2024–2025). General regulations are as follows:

  1. All Chinese scholars or research students affiliated to higher education/research institutes in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan or overseas regions are eligible to apply.
  2. Submitted articles must be written in either Chinese or English and published in a refereed journal within the calendar year 2024. Each candidate can enter up to two articles for the Awards. The publication date, title and volume/number of the journal in which the article(s) appeared must be provided.
  3. Up to three articles are selected as winners each year. A certificate and a cheque of HK$3,000 will be awarded to each winning entry.
  4. The adjudication committee, which consists of renowned scholars in Translation Studies from Greater China, will meet in June 2025. The results will be announced in July 2025 and winners will be notified individually.
  5. Articles submitted will not be returned to the candidates.

Continue reading Soong Translation Studies award–call for entries →

Paper Republic 2024 Roll Call

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2024 Roll-Call of Chinese Literature in English Translation
By Jack Hargreaves, published 

‘Tis the end of 2024 (Where it’s gone? Don’t ask me.) and that means it’s time for the annual roll-call of Chinese-language literature published in English translation.

It has been a mixed year, with, on the plus side, there being more women authors published than in 2023, and just more works of fiction in general — more prizewinning works of fiction, too.

But there does seem to be less poetry. And when I say there are more works by women than there has been, the increase isn’t dramatic. In fact, you might say that this year is, on the whole, a return to business as usual after the post-Covid years — those weren’t fallow years, but they were lower yield.

Still, it’s a really exciting list of titles which includes some of my favourite reads from 2024, full-stop. I’m also confident that we’ve missed some works out, especially when it comes to poetry, so please do drop any absent titles in the comments below and we’ll make sure to add them. The same goes for any particularly glowing reviews you’ve come across, or prize announcements (we’ve mostly included winners, but please also share any shortlisted or longlisted works).

Special mentions go to translators Jennifer Feeley and Lin King for bringing us five showstoppers between them, with Mourning a Breast and Tongueless, and Taiwan Travelogue, Cloud Labour and book two of The Boy From Clearwater, respectively. Continue reading Paper Republic 2024 Roll Call →

Six Poems by Mu Cao

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MCLC Resource Center is pleased to announce publication of “Six Poems by Mu Cao,” translated by Hongwei Bao. The translations, along with the original Chinese poems, appear below and at their online home: https://u.osu.edu/mclc/online-series/mu-cao/. As previously announced on the blog, Mu Cao is a recent winner of the Prince Claus Impact Award.

Kirk Denton, MCLC
Six Poems by Mu Cao

By Mu Cao 墓草

Translated by Hongwei Bao

MCLC Resource Center Publication (Copyright December 2024)

Photo credit: Fan Popo.

[Translator’s note: The following poems are presented with Chinese version first, followed by its English translation. The dates at the end of the poems indicate when the poems were first written. The author’s and translator’s bios can be found at the end. I have opted to present all the translated lines in lower case.] 

蚂蚁

为了停留在人世间
我强暴地压抑自己
为了感觉生命的存在
我把自身和一只蚂蚁比较

我看到蚂蚁用强忍的牙齿
向野兽说话
我看到另一只冷漠的蚂蚁
带着他的技术
去远方流浪

（2006年9月11日）

ants

to survive in this world
i forcefully suppress myself
to feel the existence of my being
i imagine myself to be ants

i see an ant challenge a beast
clenching its unyielding teeth
i see another ant
take his craft
and leave, drifting in an unknown world

(September 11, 2006) Continue reading Six Poems by Mu Cao →

Sino Queer Translation–cfp

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Call for Papers
Sino Queer Translation: Sexualities across Languages, Cultures, and Media
Edited by Hongwei Bao and Yahia Ma

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of scholarly works examining the relationship between queerness and translation, including the translation of queer texts in different languages and the development of non-normative strategies in translation. Much of the existing work primarily focuses on translations of/between English and Indo-European languages, literatures, and cultures, including Queer Theory and Translation Studies (Brian James Baer, 2021), Queering Translation, Translating the Queer: Theory, Practice, Activism (edited by Brian James Baer and Klaus Kaindl, 2018), and Queer in Translation (edited by B. J. Epstein and Robert Gillett, 2017), Queering Modernist Translation: The Poetics of Race, Gender and Queerness (Christian Bancroft, 2021).

Despite the dominance of scholarship on translations between Indo-European languages in the field, there are some scholarly works looking at queer aspects of Chinese literature in English translation and queer translation in the context of the Sinosphere. For example, James St. Andre’s book Translating China as Cross-Identity Performance (2018) looks at the translation of Chinese texts into English and French from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries from the perspective of cross-identity performance, using queer metaphors such as drag; Ting Guo and Jonathan Evans’ work focuses on translational and transnational queer fandom in China and queer female teen dramas in translation (Guo and Evans, 2020, 2024). Other examples include the discussion of how the concept of queer has been translated, circulated, and received in Chinese and Sinophone contexts (Song Hwee Lim 2008, 2018; Andrea Bachner 2017; Hongwei Bao 2020, 2024; Wangtaolue Guo 2021), Leo Tak-Hung Chan’s (2018) study of parodic Japanese manga versions of the Chinese classic Xiyouji 西遊記 (The Journey to the West), and Yahia Ma and Tets Kimura’s (2024) analysis of Li Kotomi’s queer novel Hitorimai /獨舞 (Solo Dance) in three languages from the perspective of self-translation, rewriting, and translingual address. Continue reading Sino Queer Translation–cfp →

An Afternoon with Howard Goldblatt

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Dear MCLC Community,

A few weeks ago, we held a wonderful event at San Francisco State to honor our alum, former faculty member, and pre-eminent translator of Chinese literature, Professor Howard Goldblatt. The event was entitled “Farewells and Homecomings: An Afternoon with Celebrated Translator Howard Goldblatt.” Professor Goldblatt shared stories about his time at SF State, his first trip to China in the 1980s, and his friendships with Chinese writers. The event culminated with Professor Goldblatt presenting SF State with a priceless gift. The recording of the event, along with a slideshow and more information, can now be found on our website. You can also view the recording and slideshow below.

https://mll.sfsu.edu/news/afternoon-celebrated-translator-howard-goldblatt

Happy Thanksgiving,

Frederik Green

Taiwan novel makes history winning National Book Award

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Source: Radio Taiwan International (11/21/24)
Taiwan novel makes history winning US National Book Award
By Amanda Ruth Stephens

Taiwan novel makes history winning US National Book Award

Taiwanese author Yang Shuang-zi’s “Taiwan Travelogue ” won the U.S. National Book Award Wednesday. In her acceptance speech reflecting on the theme of Taiwanese identity, she said, “[I] wrote about the past to move on to the future.” (Photo via YT/@NationalBook)

The English translation of the novel Taiwan Travelogue (臺灣漫遊錄) made history Wednesday as the first Taiwanese novel to win the U.S. National Book Award for Translated Literature since the award was founded in 1967. The award is among one of the most prestigious literature awards in the world, mentioned alongside the Man Booker Prize and Nobel Prize for Literature.

Written by author Yang Shuang-zi (楊双子), the book tells the story of a Japanese travel writer Chizuko, and her Taiwanese translator Chizuru traveling along Taiwan’s railway system on a “culinary journey” during the period of Japanese occupation. During the journey, Chizuko is faced with confronting the layered power dynamics in an intimate story that the New York Times praises as “a nesting-doll narrative about colonial power in its many forms[…] of translations, [and] of empires”.

The author, Yang Shuang-zi, is actually a pen name for twin sisters Yang Jo-tzu (楊若慈) and Yang Jo-hui (楊若暉) who worked as collaborators focusing on narrative creation, and historical research and translation. While Yang Jo-hui passed away in 2015, her sister has continued to use the pen name in her honor. Continue reading Taiwan novel makes history winning National Book Award →

How to make translations more visible in library catalogues

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I’m forwarding the message below  from Christophe Fricker, member of the Translators Association (UK), about how to make translations more visible in library catalogues (incl. OCLC). Fricker presents useful info and a call for action regarding translations from all languages, including from English to Chinese–Helen Wang <helentao@hotmail.co.uk>

Dear all, you may remember a conversation about why so many translations don’t show up in library catalogues. I have found out why this is, and how it can be remedied.

It needs the vendors of ‘discovery layers,’ i.e. the search engines behind your library’s catalogue to ‘index’ the field in which information about translation is entered. There are two bits of good news here: the change is relatively straightforward, and OCLC, the biggest player in the industry, is already asking whether they should make this change.

Librarians need to say yes to the ‘ideas request’ that OCLC has put out in their ‘community center.’ So far, very few have responded, so we need to draw the attention of librarians to this giant opportunity for translation, and provide them with the arguments why they should offer support.

I have summarised what is needed, and possible, and the main argument for making translation visible in library catalogue results specifically:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/librarians-oclc-clarivate-discover-translation-christophe-fricker-mmf3e/

Please share if you can; respond if you are a librarian; and add comments and corrections.

Thank you!

Christophe Fricker

Call for translator

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The editors of an anthology on nüshu, the gender-specific “women’s script,” are seeking a skilled translator to assist with the translation of selected primary sources. Materials include ballads, poems, and letters originally written in nüshu and transcribed into Chinese, awaiting translation into English. These translations will become part of the anthology, intended as resource for teaching and research. The ideal translator should be fluent in working with Chinese, especially in contexts such as translating poems and ballads.

Interested translators are invited to contact Eason Lu at eason.lu@columbia.edu to participate in a sample translation. Compensation will be provided, with honorariums available for accepted translations. Please submit a brief bio and a summary of relevant translation experience to Eason Lu by Monday, December 9th.

Editors
Eason Lu, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia University
Fei-wen Liu, Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica

Posted by: Eason Lu eason.lu@columbia.edu

Affordances of the Sinophone Literary Translator

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Symposium on the Affordances of the Sinophone Literary Translator

With a keynote address by Michael Berry and masterclasses by Nicky Harman, Jennifer Feeley, Christopher Rea, Anna Gustafsson Chen, and Gigi Chang, a hybrid-mode symposium will be held on the affordances of Sinophone literary translation at M+ in Hong Kong on 13-14 December.

Webpage: https://shorturl.at/6cWCr
Registration: https://shorturl.at/lSt0Q

All are welcome, but please register whether you’re attending in person or online.

Posted by: Darryl Sterk <shidailun@gmail.com>

Granta special issue

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Granta has just published a special issue on contemporary Chinese literature. For the time being, the texts are accessible online.

Granta 169: China (Autumn 2024)

At a time when China has become a unifying spectre of menace for Western governments, this issue of Granta seeks to bring the country’s literary culture into focus.

Featuring fiction by Yu Hua, Zou Jingzhi, Yan Lianke, Jianan Qian, Shuang Xuetao, Mo Yan, Zhang Yueran, Ban Yu, Yang Zhihan and Wang Zhanhei.

Essays by Xiao Hai and Han Zhang, as well as a conversation between Wu Qi and Granta.

Photography from Feng Li, Haohui Liu and collaborators Li Jie and Zhang Jungang.

And poetry from Huang Fan, Lan Lan, Hu Xudong and Zheng Xiaoqiong.

More Swindles from the Late Ming

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More Swindles from the Late Ming: Sex, Scams, and Sorcery
by Zhang Yingyu (fl. 1617)
Translated by Bruce Rusk and Christopher Rea
Columbia University Press, November, 2024
ISBN: 9780231212458

“In the canon of the con, More Swindles from the Late Ming is an honest-to-goodness treasure—without a trace of honesty or goodness. Rusk and Rea have succeeded brilliantly with this translation, unearthing and explaining the roots of deep moral anxieties in China. Like the greatest crime stories, these harrowing tales read like sociology in disguise, reminding us how much of our daily life rests on a thin foundation of trust—if we can keep it.” — Evan Osnos, author of Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China

DESCRIPTION

A woman seduces her landlord to extort the family farm. Gamblers recruit a wily prostitute to get a rich young man back in the game. Silver counterfeiters wreak havoc for traveling merchants. A wealthy widow is drugged and robbed by a lodger posing as a well-to-do student. Vengeful judges and corrupt clerks pervert the course of justice. Cunning soothsayers spur on a plot to overthrow the emperor. Yet good sometimes triumphs, as when amateur sleuths track down a crew of homicidal boatmen or a cold-case murder is exposed by a frog. These are just a few of the tales of crime and depravity appearing in More Swindles from the Late Ming, a book that offers a panorama of vice—and words of warning—from one seventeenth-century writer.

This companion volume to The Book of Swindles: Selections from a Late Ming Collection presents sensational stories of scams that range from the ingenious to the absurd to the lurid, many featuring sorcery, sex, and extreme violence. Together, the two volumes represent the first complete translation into any language of a landmark Chinese anthology, making an essential contribution to the global literature of trickery and fraud. An introduction explores the geography of grift, the role of sex and family relations, and the portrayal of Buddhist clergy and others claiming supernatural powers. Opening a window onto the colorful world of crime and deception in late imperial China, this book testifies to the enduring popularity of stories about scoundrels and their schemes. Continue reading More Swindles from the Late Ming →