Sex, love and the Chinese moral imagination
By Helen Wang, August 28, '12
Three books...
On sex in China, see Behind the Red Door: Sex in China, by Richard Burger,Earnshaw Books, Sept 2012. For more info, see here
Our News, Your News
WANTED: Fiction from cab drivers, chauffeurs, truck drivers... www.workerswritejournal.com
Calling all Road Warriors: Issue nine of Workers Write!, tentatively titled "Tales from the Concrete Highway", will contain stories and poems from the driver's point of view. We're looking for fiction from taxi cab drivers and chauffeurs, truck drivers, delivery drivers and couriers, forklift operators . . . anyone who uses a wheeled vehicle for work (even pit crews and stunt drivers). The deadline for submissions is Dec. 21, 2012. Word count: 500 to 5,000 words Payment: Between $5 and $50 (depending on length and rights requested). We will consider previously published material.
Chinese SF panels at Chicon 7 (30 Aug - 3 Sept) www.chicon.org
Chicon 7, the 70th World Science Fiction Convention, also known as "Worldcon," is the premier gathering of authors, artists, fans, dealers, and more in the world science fiction community. Worldcon covers all the genres of written speculative fiction including science fiction, fantasy, horror, slipstream, and alternate history, as well as science, media (movies, television, anime, and online), fanzines, gaming, costuming, filking, and more.
For Chinese panels, see here
Asia Literary Review (August 2012) out now www.asialiteraryreview.com
Includes fiction:
CHINA from Yu Li: Confessions of an Elevator Operator -- Jimmy Qi
TAIWAN Dance of the Maiden -- Tsao Li-chuan
The New York Review of Books China Archive
By Helen Wang, August 27, '12
This is really good...
The New York Review of Books China Archive is a collaborative project of ChinaFile and The New York Review of Books. The archive is currently under construction. When complete, it will contain a full and easily searchable collection of China-related essays and reviews that The New York Review of Books has published since its founding in 1963.
DJS Translation Prize (poetry) - deadline 30 October poetryeastwest.com
”DJS Poetry Translation Prize” is administered by Poetry East West magazine, to promote literary exchange in poetry between China and other countries and to encourage quality translation of poetry. Starting from 2011, one prize each year, USD 1000, recipient to be announced on December 30. During the first three years, DJS Translation Prize will be awarded to a translator or a team of translators who has/have demonstrated exceptional skills in translating a book of contemporary poetry (50 poems or more) from Chinese into English or another non-Chinese language.
Atlas: The Archaeology of an Imaginary City, by Dung Kai-cheung www.cupblog.org
Earlier this summer, Dung Kai-cheung, author of Atlas: The Archaeology of an Imaginary City was interviewed by Christopher Mattison in a wide-ranging discussion. Among the issues discussed were translation, the impact of English on Dung’s writing, Hong Kong as a “fiction,” and Hong Kong literature. The interview begins with a conversation about the translation of Atlas, which was both self-translated and done in collaboration with Bonnie McDougall and Anders Hanson. Dung mentions how his knowledge of English shapes and benefits how his Chinese writing is translated.
Caught in the Web (Sousuo), by Wen Yu christinesunflower.com
Chen Kaige's new movie Sousuo 《搜索》 is based on the online novel by Wen Yu 文雨 and explores the infamous “human flesh search” phenomenon in China — the conduct of massive researching using Internet media such as blogs and forums to expose individuals to public humiliation. It was the only online novel among the 130 works longlisted by the China’s most prestigious Lu Xun Literature Prize in 2010.
Interview with Eleanor Goodman in Poetry International pionline.wordpress.com
In Poetry International, 1 August 2012:
At that point, my Chinese wasn’t good enough to read anything but the simplest of texts. But when I got back to the States and started to read as part of my efforts not to forget Chinese, I encountered some wonderful books of poetry. I had brought back a children’s addition of the famous compilation, Three Hundred Tang Poems 唐诗三百首, and I started to go through it systematically. I understood a tiny percentage of the allusions, but I basked in the richness of the imagery and related to the cleverness of language and emotional depth of these little lyrics. I memorized dozens of them and would recite them to myself while taking walks.
The 2012 NZSA Asian Short Story Award www.asiawrites.org
Entry is open to New Zealand permanent residents who are Asian or of Asian ethnicity. Short stories will be in English, and the theme is open. Stories will ideally contain some Asian content, though not necessarily be set in Asia. The minimum length of entries is 2,500 words, and the maximum length of entries is 3,500 words. There is a total of $4,500 in cash prizes. First prize: $3,000. Second: $1,000. Third: $500. The competition deadline is 30 August 2012.
Chinese Writing in the Americas www.amerasiajournal.org
The UCLA Asian American Studies Center Press is proud to announce the release of Amerasia Journal Issue 38:2
“Towards a Third Literature: Chinese Writing in the Americas”. The latest issue of Amerasia Journal is an unprecedented international collaboration for Amerasia Journal, bringing together authors and intellectuals from China, Taiwan, Latin America, and the United States to consider the impact of national and cultural identities on literary practice.
What's in a piss?
By Helen Wang, August 26, '12
Ever had the feeling that there's a toilet scene in every Chinese story you read? Maram Epstein (Princeton) explains why...
Yiyun Li talks about Shen Congwen
By Helen Wang, August 25, '12
Yiyun Li, translator of the letters of Chinese writer Shen Congwen, tells the story of his extremely persistent courtship of his wife, a student of his at a University, and the concerned chancellor who was caught in between. To hear more about Congwen's writing, letters, and life (and more of Li's delightful commentary) listen to the full audio of her TWO LINES reading at http://catranslation.org/blogpost/two-voices-with-author-yiyun-shen-congwen
Secret Plot, by Mai Jia, made into movie www.globaltimes.cn
The Silent War is an adaptation of An Suan (Secret Plot), written by Mai Jia, pen name for war-themed writer Jiang Benhu. In Chinese cinemas this summer.
The novel was adapted into a TV drama in 2005. Like Mai's previous works, it depicts the battles between agents from the Communist Party of China (CPC) and Kuomintang during the late 1940s and early 1950s. Zhang Xuening (Zhou Xun) is a CPC agent in the 701 Unit, which monitors Kuomintang's communication channels. One day, all signals go out. To track them, Zhang brings He Bing (Tony Leung), a blind man with a superior sense of hearing.
2012 Nobel Prize for Mo Yan? sports.ladbrokes.com
Ladbrokes's top three with the odds:
Haruki Murakami 10/1 Mo Yan 12/1 Cees Nooteboom 12/1
Xu Huaiqian - one of his last pieces of writing
By Helen Wang, August 23, '12
I couldn't find any of Xu's work translated into English, so I've made a quick attempt at translating one of the last pieces he wrote, published in Beijing Qingnian Bao in June.
徐怀谦：想象力和比想象力更重要的 北京青年报, 2012年06月23日 09:37 http://news.ifeng.com/opinion/society/detail_2012_06/23/15506341_0.shtml?_from_ralated
Xu Huaiqian - suicide www.rfa.org
徐怀谦 (1968-2012): Xu graduated from the Chinese department of the prestigious Peking University in 1989, going on to gain a master's degree in literature at the equally prestigious Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, before starting work at the People's Daily. He also wrote a number of articles in his spare time, which were published on the China Writer website, including "Testifying Through Death" and an essay collection, "Walking and Thinking."
Newest Wang Anyi Novel Wins HK Literary Prize redchamber.hkbu.edu.hk
Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) announced the winner of “The 4th Dream of the Red Chamber Award: The World’s Distinguished Novel in Chinese” today (26 July). The prize was awarded to Scent of Heaven《天香》by Ms. Wang Anyi (王安憶) from Shanghai, who will meet members of the public in Hong Kong at the prize presentation ceremony to be held in October this year. Ms. Wang wins HK$300,000 for her work, which was chosen following a rigorous selection process.
Decoded, by Mai Jia www.penguinrights.co.uk
Never before translated into English, DECODED tells the tragic story of a math genius who becomes China's greatest code-breaker, only to be driven mad by the unfathomable darkness in the world of cryptology. With the pacing and plot twists of a crime thriller, it combines elements of magical realism with historical fiction and state espionage. The fact that it takes place in a fully characterised shadowy world of the Chinese secret security, where Mai Jia worked for decades, makes it all the more unfamiliar, intriguing and authentic. The protagonist, Rong Jinzhen, is a classic Mai Jia character, possessing exceptional intelligence, yet also deeply flawed and fragile as a person. DECODED was published in 2002 and became an immediate success. There are over 300,000 copies in print and it has won several awards.
Penguin has acquired the rights to publish Decoded in 2013.
In the Dark, by Mai Jia www.penguinrights.co.uk
Told through five linked stories and spanning thirty years, it is a stunning epic of radio surveillance, code breaking and secret missions in which psychics, revolutionaries and math geniuses fight for survival. The novel was an instant bestseller, and Mai Jia was hired to adapt the book for TV. The 30-episode TV series went on air in 2005 and became a national sensation. IN THE DARK won the Mao Dun Literary Award in 2008. It is also widely considered the pioneer of a new wave of espionage writing in China.
Penguin has acquired the rights to publish In the Dark in 2014.
Zhang Xinxin's new book, part 2, is now out itunes.apple.com
Pai Hua Zi and the Clever Girl, part 2 is now available.
Capital Reads: 21 Quintessential Beijing Books www.cityweekend.com.cn
A mixture of fiction and non-fiction, including:
The Uninvited, by Geling Yan
Rickshaw Boy, by Lao She
Please Don't Call Me Human, by Wang Shuo
The Crazed, by Ha Jin
I Love Dollars, by Zhu Wen
Beijing Doll, by Chun Xue
Serve the People, by Yan Lianke
Mad Dinner, by Ma Yansong
More about 'I'm not Pan Jinlian' by Liu Zhenyun www.globaltimes.cn
Thus far, the book has released 500,000 copies, higher than the initial release copies of 400,000 of Liu's One Sentence Worth Thousands, which up to now has sold nearly 1 million copies.
Xu Zechen, Li Er, David Mitchell, A.S. Byatt, Joe Dunthorne, Liu Jiande, Wang Anyi literature.britishcouncil.org
British Council UK Now Literature events in China this month:
David Mitchell in Beijing, meeting with Xu Zechen and Li Er
David Mitchell and Joe Dunthorne in Shanghai, meeting with Su Tong
A.S. Byatt in Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai, meeting with Liu Jiande and Wang Anyi
Sounds interesting! Has anyone been to any of the events?
Tibetan Soul, by A Lai
By Helen Wang, August 18, '12
Tibetan Soul Stories by Alai, translated by Karen Gernant and Chen Zeping.
Alai has said that he seeks to demystify Tibet and to depict the Tibetan reality—the “noun” rather than the “adjectivized” Tibet offered by some outsiders. The stories collected here present various Tibetan realities, some drawn from legends, others inspired by daily life, by his home village, and by his extensive travels through the region.
Merwin Asia, February 2012, distributed by University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-1-937385-09-5 // ISBN 978-1-937385-08-8
Ripple on Stagnant Water, by Li Jieren
By Helen Wang, August 18, '12
Ripple on Stagnant Water, A Novel of Sichuan in the Age of Treaty Ports, by Li Jieren, translated by Bret Sparling and Yin Chi.
In the small market town of Heaven’s Turn on the Chengdu Plain, a simple-minded shopkeeper has married a beautiful village girl who is determined to rise above her station. Li Jieren’s novel is populated with gangsters, prostitutes, farmers, dilettantes, bureaucrats and Christian converts, all drawn from the author’s familiar acquaintance.
Merwin Asia, due Sept 2012, distributed by University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-1-937385-25-5 // ISBN 978-1-937385-24-8
Endless War, Fiction and Essays by Wang Wen-Hsing
By Helen Wang, August 18, '12
Endless War Fiction and Essays by Wang Wen-Hsing, edited by Shu-ning Sciban and Fred Edwards.
This volume consists of translations of twenty-four fictional works and five essays by one of the most celebrated modernist writers in Taiwan and the recipient of Taiwan’s most prestigious National Culture and Arts Award (Literature Category).
Cornell University East Asia Program, 2011 : Cornell East Asia Series 158 Distributed by University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-1-933947-28-0 // ISBN 978-1-933497-58-7
How Long Is Forever? Two Novellas, by Tie Ning
By Helen Wang, August 18, '12
How Long Is Forever? Two Novellas, by Tie Ning.
Shanghai Press & Publishing Development Company, 2011, ISBN 978-1-60652-152-6
Distributed by University of Hawaii Press.
The novellas are How Long Is Forever? and The Woman Opposite.
An Anthology of New Short Stories from China (2006–2009) www.uhpress.hawaii.edu
An Anthology of New Short Stories from China (2006–2009), edited by Josh Stenberg.
This anthology gathers stories from established and emerging writers in China and is projected to be the first in a series. It includes writing by Bi Feiyu, Chen Jie, Fan Xiaoqing, Han Shaogong, He Yuru, Huang Fan, Li Han, Su Tong, Tie Ning, Tsering Norbu, Aang Baozhong, Wang Shou, Xiao Su, Xu Yigua, and Zhu Shanpo.
Merwin Asia, distributed by University of Hawaii Press, June 2012 978-1-937385-23-1 CL $55.00S 978-1-937385-22-4 PA $25.00S Published in cooperation with the Chinese Writers' Association
Romance of the Three Kingdoms course - over 12,000 webpage views www.law.berkeley.edu
Several Chinese news reporters have interviewed Berring about the course, which centers on Romance of the Three Kingdoms and its huge impact on China’s culture. Considered one of the great works of Chinese literature, the 14th-century tome inspired the creation of a modern card game, Sanguosha.
The course, officially titled “Exploring the Three Kingdoms: The Classic Chinese Novel and Sanguosha the Card Game,” has drawn intense interest. Although the class can only enroll 30 students, its web page has been viewed more than 12,000 times.
Sheng Keyi's Northern Girls - questions for bookclubs www.facebook.com
Discussion questions suggested by Penguin Books in China.
Cambridge English and China: A Conversation camqtly.oxfordjournals.org
Article by Lu Jiande, 'Self' in F.R. Leavis and its significance for Chinese Literature, in Cambridge English and China: A Conversation, a special issue of the Cambridge Quarterly (2012) 41 (1).
The moral concern of F. R. Leavis involves a subtle scrutiny of the representation of the self in its various (often unconscious) forms. The Cambridge critic is particularly harsh when the (implied) authorial self is not vigilant against itself. This sensitiveness to the fallibility of the self is both the result and strength of a Christian and self-introspective culture that Leavis shares with his contemporaries, believers and non-believers alike. This paper argues that though a prudent and conscientious self-restraint is a basic Confucian criterion for a gentleman, the self of Chinese poets, however, is entitled to greater licence and wilder self-representation, and as a consequence literary scholars in China are much more tolerant of egotism in different disguises. Perhaps idioms typical of Leavis's ethical sensibility might be tentatively used in analysing and evaluating certain features of Chinese literature.
Translational writing - with reference to Xiaolu Guo jcl.sagepub.com
Article by Rachel Gilmour, 'Living between languages: The politics of translation in Leila Aboulela’s Minaret and Xiaolu Guo’s A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers', The Journal of Commonwealth Literature, June 2012, 47: 207-227.
(There's a free abstact, but subscription required to access the full article)
Zhang Xinxin's new book is launched
By Helen Wang, August 16, '12
Pai Hua Zi and the Clever Girl: A Graphic Novel by Zhang Xinxin.
Published digitally, 20 pages of this book are available as a sample. This is Part 1 of the English edition. Part 2 and Chinese edition to follow soon.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/pai-hua-zi-clever-girl-vol./id553372788?mt=11&ls=1