Unless I'm very mistaken, which has been known to happen, the New Yorker's publication of "Bull", excerpted from Mo Yan's forthcoming novel POW! and translated by Howard Golblatt, marks their first foray into translated fiction from a mainland Chinese author. Publishing Mo Yan now may not quite be the bold move it would have been a few months ago, but still it's a landmark moment. Congratulations to Mo Yan, Howard Goldblatt, and the New Yorker!
Read a short interview with Howard on the NY-er blog.
Comments
The New Yorker published some Gao Xingjian a few years ago (online, at any rate, I remember them leaving out Mabel Lee's name), but if by mainland Chinese writer you mean someone currently living in the PRC, you're probably right.
Lucas
Lucas Klein, November 21, 2012, 1:40a.m.
God, so what you're saying is I'm judging the New Yorker by the same standards the Chinese government judges the Nobel?
Eric Abrahamsen, November 21, 2012, 1:45a.m.
A site search for "from the Chinese" pulls up The Accident and The Temple, both by Gao Xinjiang from 2003 (translation credited to Mabel Lee). There's also a Ma Jian piece in there, The Abandoner (translated by Flora Drew), which is encouraging for anyone who's not currently translating a Nobel laureate.
jdmartinsen, November 21, 2012, 5:07a.m.