By Nicky Harman, February 25, '11
By Yu Yan Chen
China Fiction Book Club is a gathering of kindred spirits bonded together by the love for Chinese language and literature. Over tea and snacks, members meet about once every two months to translate a piece of contemporary Chinese literature into English. Our first meeting in autumn 2010 took place at an elegant café near SOAS, but our next meeting on 16 March from 6:00 to 8:00 will be held at RADA.
By Cindy M. Carter, February 24, '11
Some upcoming literary events in Beijing:
【Culture Program】 “2010, On the Poetic Power of Maras” Series 6: A Poetry Reading
Date: February 26, 2011 16:00-18:00
Guest: Waitong Liu and friends
Location: Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), 798 Art District
In Chinese. Free entry.
In this, the final session of the “On the Poetic Power of Maras” series, moderator Waitong Liu and his friends will read and discuss his new poetry, accompanied by music and images: a fun musical jam and special slide show.
Bookworm International Literary Festival, 2011
Dates: March 4-18, 2011
Locations: various
By Cindy M. Carter, February 23, '11
Popular novelist Murong Xuecun says the mainland's draconian censorship has driven him to his wit's end.
The 37-year-old author, known for his dark humour, launched a scathing attack on the mainland's literary censorship in a lunchtime speech at the Foreign Correspondent's Club yesterday, blaming it for quashing writers' creativity and sabotaging the Chinese language.
The 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize shortlist was announced a few days ago, the current five-book lineup is:
By Canaan Morse, February 15, '11
The official announcement of Asymptote's first issue:
The inaugural issue of ASYMPTOTE is now out and features original essays by Mary Gaitskill and Alain de Botton, fiction by Thomas Bernhard and Yoram Kaniuk, poems by Aimé Césaire, Ko Un, Gleb Shulpyakov, Pura López-Colomé and Habib Tengour; drama by Toshiki Okada; visual poetry from Iceland (on video) and Japan; a Swedish Poetry Special Feature, a recreation of one day in the life of Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu, an interview with Francis Li Zhuoxiong(2010 World Cup songwriter) and more.
By Nicky Harman, February 1, '11
Fish out of water? Lone voice crying in the wilderness? (well, alright, in the Quality Non–Fiction in the Digital Age conference). At the start, I was a little unsure about what role I, as the sole translator–speaker, was going to play at a conference largely attended by international publishers. Though I wasn’t the only one of a kind. There was a philosopher, Jos de Mul, reminding us that the invention of writing in the New Stone Age was just a way of outsourcing memory! And computers in the New New Stone Age (that’s now) are a way of outsourcing thinking…
By Canaan Morse, January 19, '11
Paper Republic Associate Wang Danhua's write-up of Dangdai magazine's Best Novels of 2010 Award election ceremony, translated and with commentary by Canaan Morse. Read on to find out who won!
Liu Binyan [刘宾雁], the distinguished Chinese journalist and writer who died of cancer on December 5, 2005, in exile in New Jersey, at the age of eighty, was an inveterate defender of the poor and the oppressed, a man with a powerful analytic mind. But the trait that most determined his course through life was his bent for speaking out combined with his utter inability to say anything that he thought to be false. This was so even in small matters. During his last visit with me he said, “You’re a Sinologist, but I have never tasted really good Chinese tea at your house.”
By Eric Abrahamsen, January 14, '11
Whilst I was looking the other direction, Cindy Carter's translation of Yan Lianke's novel Dream of Ding Village was published by Grove Press in the US and Constable and Robinson in the UK. Take a look at this book (there's a Kindle edition!), it's a good one, by one of China's best contemporary authors. And an excellent translation!
Congratulations Cindy!
No matter how swiftly authorities stamp out new criticism, however, it's too late. The brute removal of undesirable language from public discourse only works when ideas do not exist independent of language, but it is precisely irony that allows silence to speak as loudly as words. Wang Xiaofeng may be right in saying it will take another generation before any voices will be raised in direct challenge, but the government should be worried. Even now, each online report of disaster, failure, corruption, or injustice is met with a newly repurposed old Maoist catchphrase, perhaps angry or resigned, but above all, ironically knowing: "Our thanks to the nation."
By Nicky Harman, January 4, '11
Shi Tiesheng dies of a brain hemorrage at 59. Wikipedia entry here
By Cindy M. Carter, January 4, '11
Here's the latest update on the symposium about Zhang Dachun's new book Chengbang Baolituan at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) in 798 Art District, Beijing:
1月7日 (周五), 10:15-12:15, UCCA报告厅
January 7 (FRI), 10:15-12:15, UCCA Auditorium
【文化项目 Culture Program】
UCCA新书发布系列8： 张大春新书《城邦暴力团》首发暨作品研讨会
UCCA Book Release Series 8: Chengbang Baolituan by Zhang Dachun
Address: UCCA, 798 Art District, No. 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China 100015 Tel: +86 10 8459 9269 / 8459 9387
嘉宾 Guests: 张大春：作家，《城邦暴力团》作者 / Zhang Dachun (novelist) ; 黄集伟：专栏作家、出版人、书评家、作家、语词收藏人 Huang Jiwei (author, publisher, reviewer, columnist)
李敬泽：文学评论家，《人民文学》主编 Li Jingze (literary critic, editor-in-chief of Renmin Wenxue [People’s Literature]) , 止庵：学者，文学评论家 Zhi An (scholar, literary critic)
合作方 Partner: 世纪文景 Wenjing (Horizon Media)
语言 Language: 中文 In Chinese only
票务 Ticketing
活动免费，UCCA会员可预留座位，请于1月6日前发送电子邮件(注明会员编号)至frontdesk@ucca.org.cn
非UCCA会员请预约参加，将姓名、电话发送到frontdesk@ucca.org.cn。邮件标题：预约参加张大春新书《城邦暴力团》首发研讨会；我们会于1月6日前发送邮件确认。
This event is free, but requires a reservation.
UCCA members: To make reservations for this event, please send an e-mail with your membership number to frontdesk@ucca.org.cn by Jan 6.
Non-UCCA members: Please send an e-mail with your name and phone number to frontdesk@ucca.org.cn. You will receive a confirmation e-mail by Jan 6.
By Eric Abrahamsen, December 27, '10
Han Han just posted to his blog, confirming rumors that his magazine Choir of Soloists (独唱团) will be shutting down after the first issue.
As you might imagine, Han Han can't get terribly specific about the exact causes of the shutdown—he appears not to be sure of the details himself—but it's pretty obvious that by the time every official body who could possibly have an opinion about the magazine had gotten through expressing that opinion, publication was impossible.
"…perhaps there are just too many 'relevant departments' and 'relevant people' in China, too many people determined to see cultural reading materials become cultural relics…"
