It was after dusk. Lanterns illuminated the restaurant. The lantern light shone on the faces of Fang Kuan and the others, which dripped with sweat. Cold sweat. In the thirty fourth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at 7 Killers (七殺手 / Qī Shāshǒu), by Wuxia renegade Gu Long . Our guest is one of the top translators of Wuxia webnovels, Deathblade . 7 Killers is classic Gu Long, and an early entry in Deathblade's career as a translator. We use it as a jump-off point ...
Jun 07, 2020•2 hr 14 min
'We Han Chinese outnumber the Jurchen by more than a hundred to one. If the Imperial Court decided to employ honest and loyal men, our great Empire would prevail. With one hundred of our men against one of their worthless soldiers, how could the Jin army win?' In the thirty third episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Legend of the Condor Heroes (射雕英雄传 / Shèdiāo Yīngxióng Chuán), the magnum opus of Wuxia grandmaster Jin Yong . Our guest is one of the translators wor...
May 30, 2020•1 hr 58 min
"A true map cannot simply mark out the landmarks, and the most popular tourist sites, it must be able to guide readers through the city’s lesser-known corners, its dimly-lit nooks and rarely-frequented crannies" In the thirty second episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at The Book of Shanghai , a short story collection from Comma Press . Our guest is Karen Wang of the Manchester Confucius Institute - // NEWS ITEMS // Tiananmen: Lives of the Poets by Gregory Lee 'The ...
May 13, 2020•2 hr
"Autumn Grace jumped up from the ground, kicked off her high heels and dashed away, one hand holding up the hem of her gown" In the thirty first episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Su Tong's Petulia's Rouge Tin (红粉 / Hóngfěn) Our guest is Anya Goncharova of the Peony Literary Agency - Su Tong on Paper Republic Penguin China on Twitter - // NEWS ITEMS // A Summer Beyond Your Reach Penguin China Zhejiang Series Barbarians at the Gate x China History Podcast A Yi x ...
May 02, 2020•1 hr 52 min
"Assuming my memory hasn't been obstructed, then something must be interfering with time" In the thirtieth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Ge Fei's Flock of Brown Birds (褐色鸟群 / Hésè Niǎoqún). Our guest is Eric Abrahamsen, one of the founding members of Paper Republic - Ge Fei on Paper Republic Translator Poppy Toland on Paper Republic - // NEWS ITEMS // Chen Qiufan's Sixth Tone article Paper Republic 'have-a-go-at-translation' initiative - // WORDS OF THE DAY...
Apr 21, 2020•1 hr 49 min
"Memory comes from forgetting" In the twenty ninth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Song Aman's Gongsun's Dreams (公孙画梦 / Gōngsūn Huàmèng). Our guest is Michelle Deeter , returning for her second appearance on the show! This story is not yet published in English. The Chinese version features in Song Aman's collection Inland Romance , published in Chinese by Jiangsu Phoenix Literature and Art Publishing . - Michelle Deeter's homepage Song Aman on Paper Republic ...
Apr 12, 2020•1 hr 37 min
"Dalliances wi ither worlds..." In the twenty eighth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Yang Lian's Narrative Poem (叙事诗 / Xùshìshī). Our guest is Brian Holton , the premier translator of Chinese-to-Scots! - Publishers: EN - Bloodaxe Books // CN - Huaxia Publishing House Yang Lian's homepage // Brian Holton on Paper Republic - // NEWS ITEMS // Chen Quifan on the BBC World Service Yan Geling on Wuhan lockdown Fang Fang on Wuhan Lockdown Wuxia World - // DISCUSSED ...
Apr 04, 2020•1 hr 46 min
"As the boy's thoughts wandered, the purple and green leaves turned into autumn well water, and then the jute became water, while sparrows skimming the tips of the jute plants were transformed into green kingfishers snapping up tiny shrimp from the water's surface." In the twenty seventh episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Mo Yan's Radish (透明的红萝卜 / Tòumíngde Hóngluóbo). Our guest is Lehyla Heward - Publishers: EN - Penguin China // CN - Chinese Writers Magazine A...
Mar 24, 2020•2 hr 19 min
"A person from one civilisation looks at their surroundings as distinct objects and events and considers them separately. But when a person from another civilisation looks in as an outsider, they prefer to view everything through the lens of political power and try to explain everything based on that perspective." In the twenty sixth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Hao Jingfang's Vagabonds (流浪玛厄斯 / Liúlàng Mǎèsī) It would be tempting to say that Vagabonds is ...
Mar 07, 2020•2 hr 55 min
"Don't ask from where I have come. My home is far, far away." In the twenty fifth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Sanmao's Stories of the Sahara (撒哈拉的故事 / Sǎhālāde Gùshì) Sanmao AKA Echo Chan is a literary hero in China and Taiwan, but only recently has some of that fame begun to spill over into the rest of the world. She’s probably most famous for the time she spent in the Sahara, writing in a lucid, arresting, and playful style about her life there. Sanmao ...
Feb 15, 2020•1 hr 46 min
"I have lived in Tianjin my whole life, and I know its people, with their toughness and competitive streak, their generosity, their determination to be respected, and their refusal to back down. When I illustrate them, it is these qualities I draw." In the twenty fourth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Feng Jicai's Faces in the Crowd (俗世奇人 / Súshì Qírén) This is the first time on the show that I’m looking at an illustrated book. Each chapter is a ‘sketch’ of o...
Jan 19, 2020•1 hr 11 min
"Later, I kept on hoping China would host the Olympics again, but it never happened. After I became a father, I told my son about that night, and he refused to believe China had once been so prosperous." this is episode 7 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction Season In the twenty third episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Baoshu's What Has Passed Shall In Kinder Light Appear (大时代 / dà shídài), available to read in the Broken Stars anthology, edited and translated by...
Jan 12, 2020•1 hr 12 min
'The summer isn’t over yet. There are so many fun things to do.' this is episode 6 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction Season In the twenty second episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Xia Jia's A Summer Beyond Your Reach (你无法抵达的夏天/nǐ wúfǎ dǐdá de xiàtiān) Xia Jia herself joins me via Skype from California to talk about her stories. French culture comes up three times in this episode. I really didn’t see that coming. Xia Jia’s stories do fuse deep thought with deep...
Dec 18, 2019•1 hr 39 min
'Everything is going to descend into chaos and disorder. Entropy will accelerate rapidly...' [ episode 21 transcript here ] this is episode 5 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction Season In the twenty first episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Han Song's The Fundamental Nature of the Universe (宇宙的本性/yǔzhòu de běnxìng). A tale of artificial intelligence and ennui. Or should it be angst? Or simply just yanjuan? Musing darkly with me on this episode is its translator N...
Dec 11, 2019•1 hr 24 min
'We still have a very long time to get along and very many things to talk about, but let us not speak of morals. In the universe, such considerations are meaningless.' this is episode 4 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction Season In the twentieth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Liu Cixin 's Devourer (吞食者/tūnshí zhě) This is a grim tale for survival in a predatory galaxy, very much in the mold of The Three Body Problem. Helping me out on this episode is Chinese...
Dec 02, 2019•1 hr 21 min
'The robot’s ability to learn was unparalleled, and with the help of its creators it analysed its databank of stories to create a set of scientific laws for storytelling – a model that would later become world-famous. But the mathematical nature of this model was so overwhelmingly complex that only the robot could make head or tail of it.' this is episode 3 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction Season In the nineteenth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Fei Dao 's...
Nov 26, 2019•1 hr 47 min
'Everything was shrouded in a leaden miasma, an amalgamation of the white mist generated by the boiling aqua regia in the acid baths and the black smoke from the unceasing burning of PVC, insulation, and circuit boards in the fields and on the shore of the river. The two contrasting colors were mixed by the sea breeze until they could no longer be distinguished, seeping into the pores of every living being.' - this is episode 2 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction Season - Chaos reigns in the hyp...
Nov 15, 2019•58 min
'The folding city was divided into three spaces. One side of the earth was First Space, population five million. Their allotted time lasted from six o’clock in the morning to six o’clock the next morning. Then the space went to sleep, and the earth flipped.' this is episode 1 of 7 in our Chinese Science Fiction Season In the seventeenth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Hao Jingfang 's Folding Beijing (北京折叠/běi jīng zhé dié) This is a Hugo Award-winning ‘novele...
Nov 09, 2019•2 hr 11 min
"Remember, if the police come by in the next few days, just answer their questions the way I taught you." In the sixteenth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Chen Zijin 's The Untouched Crime (无证之罪/wú zhèng zhī zuì) This novel is a murder mystery with a twist set in...well the setting depends on whether you’re reading the original Chinese, or our guest Michelle Deeter 's English translation, published by Amazon Crossing . I bet you want to know why. So, you’d be...
Oct 22, 2019•1 hr 23 min
“Ai-ya! Don’t go on at me!” “Well if I don’t, who’s going to?” In the fifteenth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Yan Ge's The Chilli Bean Paste Clan (我们家/wǒmen jiā) This is a s-p-i-c-y novel published by Balestier Press about a dysfunctional family and its depraved, conflicted, and frequently disoriented patriarch. Yan Ge has said that it was inspired by her years spent growing up the the chilli bean paste production capital of Sichuan Province. Our guest for ...
Oct 06, 2019•1 hr 27 min
"There’s an old saying: the earth is like a vomiting carcass." In the fourteenth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Jiang Zilong 's Empires of Dust (农民帝国/nóngmín dìguó) This is an epic of ‘reform literature’ published by Sinoist Books , charting the rise and fall of Guo Cunxian, a ‘rugged individual’ of sorts who lives through the revolution, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution, and Reform and Opening. What is ‘reform literature’ you ask? Listen and ...
Sep 30, 2019•1 hr 31 min
"A weill-kent scholar at the court o King Shenzong o the umqhile Hous o Song, he wis vext at the Five Dynasties, yon hinner-en o the Tang times whan there wis naethin but weir an brulyie: in thae days whit wis Jin’s i the mornin wad be Liang’s bi nicht, an richtlie wis it said: Zhu, Li, Shi, Liu, Guo; Liang, Tang, Jin, Han, Zhou: Fifteen kings thegither Skailt fiftie year o stushie!" In the thirteenth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at The Mossflow , Brian Holto...
Sep 01, 2019•43 min
"An idyllic island in the midst of boiling oceans. Hot enough to cook a hotpot. One maverick entrepreneur sees a development opportunity and begins to devise the most absurd schemes for environmental protection." In the twelfth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Chen Si'an's Ocean Hotpot (海洋火锅 / hǎiyáng huǒguō) This one was translated by Jeremy Tiang and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with Chen Si’an in attendance. I was lucky enough to ask Si'an a ...
Aug 23, 2019•33 min
"Fire spreads and rages underground, and once the lava’s broken through it will burn up all the weeds, along with the tall trees. Thereupon, therefore, nothing else will rot." In the eleventh episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Weeds (野草/yě cǎo) by Lu Xun Matt Turner has brought new life to one of Lu Xun's more downbeat bodies of work. He and I talk about the whys and hows of this endeavour. Fire does indeed rage underground. - // Discussed in this Episode // For...
Aug 03, 2019•1 hr 6 min
"I tried. I put everything into being an exceptional student. But those things are like water cast out in the desert, they evaporate quickly. Whenever I started something, I would picture its inevitable ending. An apple becomes pips in the trash." In the tenth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at A Yi 's A Perfect Crime (猫和老鼠/māo hé lǎoshǔ) This is dark and existential novel translated by Anna Holmwood wastes neither word nor sentiment on the reader. Prepare for d...
Jul 27, 2019•43 min
"Alive, her body belonged to him; dead, she was his ghost" In the ninhth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at Lust, Caution (色，戒 / Sè, Jiè) by a certain someone called Eileen Chang . Heard of her? It’s a tale of forbidden love and political intrigue set at a precarious time and indeed a precarious place in Chinese history: the Japanese-occupied foreign concessions of WW2-era Shanghai. The translation I read is from the Penguin Pocket Classics Edition. Julia Lovell...
May 26, 2019•1 hr 22 min
"Howard Goldblatt is Jay Z and Nicky Harman is Nas" In this episode I'm talking to Dylan Levi King , translator of Dong Xi's Record of Regret . We talk about Xuzhou's dog tacos, Chinese libraries, Ghost in the Shell...and of course Miss Sophie's Diary . Dylan also spoke about the world of Chinese to English translation, his love of Jia Pingwa, and his own growth as a translator. - // Discussed in this Episode // Dylan's Twitter His Floating City article Entering Qin, his Jia Pingwa article - // ...
Apr 30, 2019•1 hr 17 min
"I was so angry I wanted to weep, but I laughed aloud." In the seventh episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we are looking at: The Diary of Miss Sophie (莎菲女士的日记/Shāfēi Nǚshì de Rìjì) This is a very personal journey of 'Miss Sophie', an outspoken woman navigating all the questions modern life in early 20th century, May Fourth Movement era China is throwing at her. It's frigging fascinating. - // Discussed in this Episode // The translation I read is from the Beacon Press edition of ...
Apr 27, 2019•34 min
'It was in the desert that I found poetry.' In this episode we're talking to Dong Li , translator of The Wild Great Wall (野长城 // Yě Chángchéng) by the poet Zhu Zhu . Dong Li was born in the PRC and now resides in Germany. He's had fellowships and publications galore, and can speak Chinese, English, German, and French. - // Discussed in this Episode // Here's the three poets Dong Li recommends you check out: Lorine Niedecker Jeffrey Yang C D Wright Dong Li's World Literature Today article www. Ph...
Apr 18, 2019•51 min
"This moment countless men up the stairs. Upstairs, Chopin already in the dark. Downstairs, dying alone in a crowd." - In this episode we are looking at: The Wild Great Wall (野长城 // Yě Chángchéng) It's a brand new release. It's poetic, it's universal and cross-cultural, and yet it's also quite defiantly (I dare to say) Chinese. In a funny sort of way. - // Handy TrChFic Links // Buy Me a Coffee Bonus Shows on Patreon The TrChFic Map INSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD // MY SITE...
Apr 06, 2019•57 min
