Bruce Humes

King Gesar: Tibetan Epic in Modern Chinese Prose

The latest entry in Canongate’s Myth Series, King Gesar, has been launched in China, and the firm has confirmed to me that it hopes to publish it in English within 2011. When it makes its appearance, it will join other creatively re-told tales commissioned by the UK publisher, including The Penelopiad (Margaret Atwood’s take on Penelope of The Odyssey), Baba Yaga Laid an Egg (Baba Yaga as per Dubravka Ugresic), and Binu and the Great Wall (by China’s Su Tong).

I recently began reading King Gesar in Chinese (格萨尔王), and I wonder: Who is the author, Alai (阿来), and why was he commissioned to write the novel? Having grown up in Tibet under Chinese rule, has he had access to traditional Tibetan literature and the minstrels who transmitted the epic ballad down through the ages? How well does the book capture the spirit of this epic that is still deeply revered among Tibetans, Mongolians and various peoples of Central Asia?

More…

By Bruce Humes, January 22, 8:42p.m.

3 comments

JSC Jaipur Int'l Literary Festival: Chinese Writer Roll-call?

Alerted by the Literary Saloon that "Asia's leading literary festival" is on in Jaipur Jan 21-25, I checked out the list of speakers.

Wow! Around 175 speakers, including many authors and some journalists, academics and even translators. Granted, the overwhelming majority are Indian or live there, but even so, their countries of origin make an interesting read: Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Burma, as one might expect, and the US and the UK are well represented too; but also France, Spain, Italy, Antigua, Congo, Nigeria and South Africa.

And---unless I missed it---not one speaker from anywhere in China.

Chinese Books, English Reviews

By Bruce Humes, January 20, 5:26a.m.

2 comments