Our News, Your News
By Eric Abrahamsen, September 20, '11
Seems like all the literary events I've been to recently have been about A Yi's new book, Guaren (寡 人, literally "the lonely one", a term the Emperor used to refer to himself). The book is hard to categorize: taken largely from a blog he once kept on the cutting-edge "Bullogger" blogging platform, it consists of short chunks – anywhere from a sentence to ten pages – of writing, some chunks obviously fictional, some more journal-like. Among them are early forms of some of his stories – "The Bird Saw Me" and Cat and Mouse (which is appearing in Today magazine next month, under a new title, I forget which) – as well as, one assumes, some ideas that never made it into fiction at all. One of these, titled "Warmth", I've translated below. Enjoy!
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By Canaan Morse, September 16, '11
Endure: Poems by Bei Dao. Trans. Clayton Eshleman and Lucas Klein. Boston: Black Widow Press. 2011. 131 pages, CN/EN duotext. ISBN: 978-0-9842640-8-7
When reading a well-known poet for the first time, it’s natural to distrust one’s ear—to hold the poet’s reputation in the periphery of one’s mental sight and weigh one’s own judgments against it. This even more so for poetry in translation, as one assumes a great distance between the accessible translation and (often) inaccessible original, which converses with such a different audience. Such considerations make it easy to play down genuine impressions of the text and be timid where one should be bold.
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Publishing is no easy matter in China. Foreign companies can only put out books in partnership with official publishers. Penguin China has now published more than 200 such titles in English and Chinese.
It can also be a lonely affair. There are no trade organisations to recognise foreign businesses and offer prizes. Penguin was therefore proud to be awarded the 2010 Continued Commitment Award in the annual Cathay Pacific China Business Awards. Jo Lusby, managing director of Penguin China, says: “To have this independent recognition of our work in this challenging market meant a great deal.”
By Nicky Harman, September 9, '11
Book Club Fest
Love reading? Enjoy talking about books with other people? Interested in other countries? Come and join us for an evening of reading foreign stories in translation from countries including China, Mexico and Sweden. VENUE:
Free Word Centre, Wednesday 21 September 2011 6.30 – 8.30pm.
How it works: Register online and we’ll email you all the texts as PDFs. Read the stories, then when you arrive at Free Word on the night you’ll receive a printout of them all, plus a free glass of wine. There’s 1 room, lots of book clubs, lots of short stories, and lots of book-lovers. Join a group, take part in the discussion, move around when the bell rings, then all come together at the end and share your thoughts!
Free, but registration essential
By Eric Abrahamsen, September 6, '11
After a fairly lukewarm showing on Day 1, attendance at the book fair spiked noticeably on September 1st and 2nd. A number of the major Chinese publishers (like Fonghong and People’s Literature) held their major events during these days, and the digital publishing booth had a fairly full schedule. Open Book, Ltd. gave two presentations on the 1st related to digital publishing in China, the first a market analysis and the second designed around the results of a reader’s survey carried out among online readers and bookshop visitors.
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By Canaan Morse, September 1, '11
Yesterday was the first day of Beijing’s 18th annual International Book Fair, now in a new venue, the New China International Exhibition Center (新国展), which is right next to the airport in Shunyi. The location is huge: the fair is only using four of eight total exhibition rooms in one of the three main buildings, and even then the space feels pretty empty. This year’s Guest of Honor is The Netherlands, who have set up a white-and-pale blue pavilion reminiscent of the Shanghai Expo last year, and they are joined in their hall by representatives from all the major European and Asian countries. That same space houses all the major foreign publishing enterprises who came to the fair, and it is one clear center of activity. Penguin has a huge booth; W.W. Norton, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, MacMillan, McGraw-Hill, Harper’s and Hachette are all here, as well as the major university presses from England and America.
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By Nicky Harman, August 30, '11
At the London FREE WORD CENTRE.
I will be one of the London Free Word Centre’s Translators-in-Residence this autumn and have organised a series of events for adults and chidren loosely focussed on China/Chinese and translation. You don’t have to be a translator or to speak Chinese to join in and all are welcome.
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"Ideally, translators translate, proofreaders proofread and editors edit. Commissioning a translator to edit, including deleting and even rewriting, means that the translator is no longer solely dedicated to retelling the story faithfully, but is being actively encouraged to question the value of the text. For me, that would be an unwanted diversion."
Controversial German Sinologist Wolfgang Kubin was recently in Shenzhen where he spoke at some length on three subjects: What makes for “good literature” (好的文学)? “Good language” (好的语言)? And if a Chinese author writes in a foreign tongue, what sorts of changes occur?
Sixty-plus judges have voted on the initial long list—187 books long—for the 2011 Mao Dun Literature Prize. It's worthy of note that two of the top twenty vote-getters are set in “Greater Tibet,” i.e., in Tibet proper or in areas of the PRC that have traditionally been home to many Tibetans. They are. . .
By Canaan Morse, August 5, '11
We admit to being despicably late with this, and hope that Kadi defer from poisoning our coffee.
The Bookworm and English Trackers are hosting another Translation Slam and looking for two Chinese to English translators. How it works: translators tackle a Chinese text, and then present their versions on stage, fielding questions from the audience. This month, we will be translating an excerpt from the script (600 characters) of the play The Great Bruce Lee Romance: a Beijing Love Story. Full of love, angst and Beijing hua this original piece is sure to strike a chord with Beijingren of all nationalities. You will be given the excerpt as well as a synopsis in English for additional background information. If you are interested, please contact Kadi (kadi@chinabookworm) for more information about the event and payment. The event will be held Wednesday, August 17 at 7:30pm at The Bookworm.
Timed to coincide with and complement the 2011 Shanghai Book Fair--August 17-23-- this “literary week” will feature appearances by luminaries such as Nobel Prize winner Le Clézio, Ireland’s Colm Tobin and China’s own Bi Feiyu, winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2010. Here's a partial list of events. . .
Kunming-based Fan Wen (范稳), author of a trilogy set on the border of Yunnan and Tibet, has launched a new novel exploring the history of the Yunnan-Vietnam railway that linked Haiphong with Kunming in 1910. Bisezhai Village (碧色寨) portrays the clash of cultures between the French, then colonial masters of Indochina just south of Yunnan and the driving force behind the new railway, and the indigenous Yi (彝族). . .
By Cindy M. Carter, August 1, '11
(Abrahamsen's probably too modest to post this, so I will.)
The 2012 National Endowment for the Arts Literature Translation Fellowships have been announced, and Paper Republic's own Eric Abrahamsen has been awarded a grant to translate Xu Zechen's novel Running Through Zhongguancun, the excerpt of which was first published right here, on PR.
For more info, see NEA website here.
By Nicky Harman, July 25, '11
Chinese Fables
Bi Feiyu and Chan Koonchung
23rd August at 6:30pm
Free Word Centre, 60 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3GA
We’re delighted to bring two of China’s most respected and controversial authors together in this unique event at the Free Word Centre. Bi Feiyu won this year’s Man Asian Literary Prize for his masterful novel Three Sisters. The author was due to visit the UK last year to promote his book – an epic portrayal of contemporary Chinese culture – but was caught in visa bureaucracy. Chan Koonchung’s political fable The Fat Years, banned in China, will be available in English in July 2011.
Join these two fascinating writers as they discuss fables, families – and fat years – with critic Lucy Popescu (author of The Good Tourist). In association with Telegram Books and Transworld Publishers.
Booking details: www.freewordonline.com or call 0207 3242 570
Tickets: £5 (£3 PEN members/concessions)
The following writers/artists have generously allowed us to showcase their work:
Poetry: Salvatore Attardo, Eleanor Goodman, J.H. Martin, Camille Hong Xin, Arthur Leung, Vera Schwarcz, Miroslav Kirin, Alithini, W.F. Lantry, Sumana Roy, Russell C. Leong, Amylia Grace
Poetry in translation: Duo Duo, Mai Mang, Wang Jiaxin, Christopher Lupke, Zhai Yongming, Andrea Lingenfelter, Xi Chuan, Lucas Klein, Zang Di, Ming Di, Meng Lang, Denis Mair, Tony Barnstone, Chen Dongdong, Eleanor Goodman and Ao Wang, Shu Cai, Gao Xing, Leonard Schwartz, Zhang Er, Xiao Kaiyu, Kang Cheng, Vivienne Guo, Ralph Parfect, Aku Wuwu, Mark Bender
Fiction: Isabelle Li, L.M. Magalas, Kaitlin Solimine
Fiction in translation: Han Dong, Nicky Harman
Creative non-fiction: Madeleine Marie Slavick, Michal Slaby
Art & art criticism: Anton S. Kandinsky, David Rong, Zhang Dali, Mai Mang, Ted Ciesielski, Zheng Lianjie, Ji Shengli, Ai Weiwei
Reviews: Katherine Foster, Glen Jennings, Joel Heng Hartse, Alice Tsay, William (Billy) Noseworthy, Ruth Y.Y. Hung, Jason Eng Hun Lee, Maura Elizabeth Cunningham, Emily Walz
Interview: Karen Ma
Chinese authors are still struggling to carve a niche in the global gallery of contemporary literary greats
The last book to have notched up outstanding sales in the English-speaking market is Shanghai Baby by Wei Hui (translated by Bruce Humes/Robinson Publishing UK) in 2001. The somewhat morbid tale of a waitress-turned-writer of erotic novels - torn between an artist who overdoses on heroin and a German businessman who she knows is cheating on her - is thought to have sold over 300,000 copies.
Going by more conservative projections, a Chinese book that sells 5,000 copies in English is supposed "to break even", according to Huang Youyi, vice-president of China International Publishing Group (CIPG) and secretary-general of the Translators Association of China. "Occasionally when a book goes beyond 10,000 copies, it is considered a great success."
So far it is only the Chinese classics like A Dream of the Red Mansions, Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West and The Outlaws of the Marsh that have "enjoyed such continued sales", he informs.
It is bad enough to have to miss a writer, and it makes it even worse to
have to miss his writing as well.
By Cindy M. Carter, July 7, '11
Documentary filmmaker and long-time Japan resident Li Ying (李缨) has recently published a Chinese-language book 《神魂颠倒日本国》about his documentary film Yasukuni. The product of nearly a decade of researching, filming and editing, Yasukuni has stirred controversy in both China and Japan, been banned in mainland China, and been the subject of a lawsuit in the Japanese courts.
From 14:00-15:30 on Sunday, July 10, 2011, Li Ying will hold a book release event and signing at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in 798 Art District, Beijing. The event is free, open to the public, and will be held in Chinese.
读书系列：《神魂颠倒日本国》- 靖国骚动的浪尖与暗流
7月10日（周日）
14:00-15:30
UCCA报告厅
July 10 (Sun)
14:00-15:30
UCCA Auditorium
嘉宾 ：李缨
Guest: Li Ying
