I'm in Norway for the
House of Literature's
Chinese Literature Week
(see the link for full schedule). Participants include Xi Chuan 西川, Wang Hui 汪晖,
Murong Xuecun 慕容雪村, Ma Jian 马建, Leslie T. Chang, Rebecca Karl,
Michael Dutton, Li Yiyun 李翊雲, Hong Ying 虹影, Mian Mian 棉棉, Xu
Zechen 徐则臣, Han Song 韩松, Lan Lan 蓝蓝, Cheng Yong Xin 程永新, Zou
Zou 走走 and me (thank you Lucas for
typing all that up). Annie Baby was
supposed to come, but she recently received word that her magazine,
Open, was going to be shut, and stayed home instead. The spirit
hovering over all this is Halvor Elfring who, besides having a pretty
decent name, is Norway's principle sinologist and gracious dinner host
of sundry China-related vagabonds [edit: I got Halvor Elfring confused with Harald Bøckman, who has a less exciting name but makes up for it with a great beard].
I'm pleased to be here: we put a fair amount of work into the planning
stage of this event ("we" here means Canaan), and it's nice that we
can also be present for its execution ("we" here means me). Houses of
Literature around the globe, take note!
This is day three of events, but I only arrived last night, so more
reports to follow. So far, the House of Literature seems lovely: a
large, well-run place offering regular readings and author talks, with
a writing center, writer-in-residence quarters, children's literature
center, and bookshop. The bookshop had a nice selection of Chinese
literature in English and Norwegian translation: Lenin's Kyss by Yan
Lianke can only be 受活 (Shouhuo), currently being translated into
English by Carlos Rojas. I was also foolishly amused to read of Mo
Yan's association with the "Lu Xun-prisen" and the "Mao Dun-prisen". I
guess a translator shouldn't laugh at these false cognates—the problem
is in your head, after all, not the language—but one permits oneself a
little snarkle.
Events have so far been packed: 500+ for writers with no Norwegian
translations.
By Eric Abrahamsen, November 16, 3:18a.m.
It's time once again for the Mao Dun literary prize, so dear to the official heart of the Chinese literary scene. Never mind that everyone whose opinion we respect snorts in disdain at the very mention of this prize (which is administered by the Writers Association) it's still a literary event.
To get the suspense out of the way, there were four winners of this year's prize, which considered full-length works of fiction published between 2002 and 2006: Jia Pingwa's Qinqiang (秦腔, Qin Opera), generally considered the 'big winner', Chi Zijian's E'erguna He You'an (额尔古纳河右岸, The Right Bank of the Arguna River), Zhou Daxin's Huguang Shanse (湖光山色, Pastorale) and Mai Jia's Ansuan (暗算, Plotting).
The official announcement of the prize is awfully Marxist (for once the low-hanging fruit can stay right where it is), but there have been other, more thoughtful responses on-line.
More…
By Eric Abrahamsen, October 30, 3:17p.m.
Has it been a year already? The long list for the 2008 Man Asia Literary Prize has been announced; only three of the twenty titles are Chinese. In our corner:
- Banished!, by Han Dong, translated by our very own Nicky Harman!
- Leave Me Alone, Chengdu (成都，今夜请将我遗忘), by Murong Xuecun.
- Brothers, by Yu Hua.
The qualification rules for the competition state that the books need to be submitted in English manuscript, but the English version must not have been published yet. Banished! and Brothers have publication dates, but I hadn't heard that anyone was translating Leave Me Alone, Chengdu. Murong Xuecun's appearance on the list is interesting – he was one of the early internet authors, writing vaguely adolescent stories of youth and urban anomie, but he's taken on a steadily more 'serious' tone. I haven't read Chengdu, but I head it's pretty good. Anyway, if anyone knows who translated either Brothers or Chengdu, leave a comment! The shortlist arrives September 1st, the final winner to be announced at the end of September.
Via Three Percent.
Update: Murong Xuecun's book was translated by Harvey Thomlinson, and there's a lengthy excerpt online here.
By Eric Abrahamsen, July 26, 1:24a.m.
