In partnership with the Beijing-based literary platform Newriting 鲤, Paper Republic is excited to announce a new iteration of READ PAPER REPUBLIC, our online publication series featuring translated short fiction! (To see previous editions, click here.)

Earlier this year saw the completion of the second annual Fubi Project 伏笔, which awarded four amateur writers from across China with funds to finish writing their first book. Now Paper Republic is looking for emerging translators to help translate excerpts of the four winning works and introduce them to the English-speaking world.

In the spirit of helping to support those who are new to the profession, this opportunity is open to emerging translators only, defined as those who have previously published no more than one full-length literary translation. Translators who are selected to participate in the series will receive editing help from Nicky Harman, Eric Abrahamsen, and other established names in the field. If you are an emerging Chinese-to-English translator, we want to hear from you!

Participation guidelines:

1. Translators can submit a sample of any of their translated work, unpublished or published, by May 10.
2. Based on the samples we receive, we will select four translators in early June to contribute to the Read Paper Republic series.
3. The selected translators will translate excerpts of the winning Fubi Project pieces over the summer, and their translations will be published online in early fall 2026.

How to submit:

• Please send a sample of your prior translated work to info@paper-republic.org no later than May 10th, 2026.
• Please include the original Chinese text with your submission.
• We prefer fiction samples, but will consider non-fiction or poetry.
• Please do not include your name or any identifying information in the Word document containing your sample.
• Please ensure that your sample is under 5,000 English words (no minimum length).

Payment: Based on the samples we receive, we will select four translators to translate pieces from the Fubi Project. These translations will be paid at the following rate: GBP £75 per 1,000 Chinese characters. The excerpts to be translated range from about 5,000 to about 10,000 characters long.

Copyright: we’ll discuss the copyright terms of the Fubi Project translations if your piece is chosen.

Finally, if you are interested in learning more about the Fubi Project and the pieces that will be translated for this series, you can read excerpts of the pieces themselves at the links below. However, you are not required to read the pieces before submitting a sample of your work.

1. 王一婷《私人生活》 (short stories)
2. 张一羽《般若》 (novel)
3. 佘东昊《夜晚老虎机》 (short stories)
4. 思芬《天晴时一起去游泳吧》 (short stories)

About Paper Republic

Our mission at Paper Republic is to promote Chinese literature in English translation. We focus on new writing from contemporary Chinese writers. We are a registered Charity in the UK, registration number 1182259.