The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast

"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

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Ge Fei on Paper Republic

Translator Poppy Toland on Paper Republic

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// NEWS ITEMS //

• Chen Qiufan's Sixth Tone article

• Paper Republic 'have-a-go-at-translation' initiative

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// WORDS OF THE DAY //

(记忆 / Jìyì / memory)

(叙事者 / Xùshìzhě / narrator)

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// DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE //

• The Invisibility Cloak

• Mr Robot, nonrecognition scene

• Weird Studies podcast

• Penguin Specials

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"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.

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Michelle Deeter's homepage

Song Aman on Paper Republic

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// NEWS ITEMS //

• Fang Fang's Wuhan Diary // coverage by The Guardian

• RIP Rao Pingru

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// WORDS OF THE DAY //

(魔方 / mófāng / rubik's cube)

(利薄多销 / lìbóduōxiāo / small profits, numerous sales)

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// DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE //

• Song Aman's 49 Degrees

• Your Name

• ONE 一个

• the Allusionist podcast

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// Handy TrChFic Links //

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"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!

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Publishers: EN - Bloodaxe Books // CN - Huaxia Publishing House

Yang Lian's homepage // Brian Holton on Paper Republic

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// NEWS ITEMS //

• Chen Quifan on the BBC World Service

• Yan Geling on Wuhan lockdown

• Fang Fang on Wuhan Lockdown

• Wuxia World

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// DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE //

• Yang Lian’s Exilic Poetry: World Poetry, Ghost Poetics, and Self-dramatization

• lofi Yang Lian to relax/study to

• Samye Ling

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"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

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Publishers: EN - Penguin China // CN - Chinese Writers Magazine Author

Mo Yan on Paper Republic

Howard Goldblatt on Paper Republic

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// NEWS ITEMS & UPCOMING BOOKS //

• Floral Mutter // + a Review

• Sinopticon

• To Hold Up the Sky

• Larry Siems and Jeffrey Yang's criticism of Mo Yan

• A Mi Manera: Howard Goldblatt at Home: A Self-Interview

• Children's perception of the world

• The man running beside the car

• a little on the Weird

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"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 a Chinese science fiction rewrite of Ursula K le Guin’s The Dispossessed. My guest Ken Liu would be the first to stress that while there’s some truth to this, readers would be much better off treating the book as thing unto itself. He’s right- this is a book with no shortage of ideas or interpretations. Storywise, here’s what you need to know: it’s a red socialist planet ‘versus’ a green and blue corpocracy. Sit down, get comfy, and pick a side. Or don’t. Not picking a side may be the point.

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// NEWS ITEMS //

• THE HIDDEN GIRL by Ken Liu

• SECOND SISTER by Chan Ho Kei

• MINECRAFT THREE BODY PROBLEM!!!

• Hao Jingfang & Ken Liu's Hugo acceptance speeches

• Neoplatonism

• Camus on rebellion

• Inequality in UK politics

• 'Minzhu' in Chinese politics

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"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 passed away in the 90s but she’s very much alive on the page, as her translator Mike Fu and I discuss.

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// Discussed on the Show //

• That We May Live

• The Olive Tree

• Red Dust

• JG Ballard's internment camp

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"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 one of old colonial Tianjin’s more quirky characters. They’re all drawn from local legends, and add up to create a really immersive wander through a bygone era.

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Publishers: EN - Sinoist Books // CN - People's Literature Publishing House

Feng Jicai on Paper Republic

Olivia Milburn on Paper Republic

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// NEWS ITEMS //

• A Snake Lies Waiting news

• 2019 Publications in Chinese

• Feng Jicai's upcoming translation

• Goubuli blog -- paywalled! >:(

• A blog on the same restaurant, not paywalled

• Clay figures article

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"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 Ken Liu.

Baoshu reverses time, sending his protagonist through a life that begins with the Beijing Olympics and ends before the communist revolution. I go it alone on this episode, and maybe it’s for the best because this story made me cry. It’s beautiful.

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// Discussed in this Episode //

• Philosophy01 Baoshu interview

• Ken Liu's favourite lines

• On Bo Xilai

• Zhao Ziyang, Prisoner of the State - SOURCE - MIRROR

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'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 feeling, which I suppose does sound a bit French. Anyway! It’s a very fun episode, so have a listen.

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Translators: Emily Jin, Carmen Yiling Yan, Ken Liu

Publisher: Clarkesworld

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// Discussed in this Episode //

• Kickstarter & links to online stories

• The real life Dragon-horse

• Trailer for Holy Motors

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'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 Nathaniel Isaacson, author of Celestial Empire: The Emergence of Chinese Science Fiction. He translated this story, so he ought to know a thing or two about it!

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FULL TEXT - academic access required

Han Song on Paper Republic

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// Discussed in this Episode //

• My That's Shanghai! article on Chinese fast rail

• The Shanghai Metro Museum

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// Handy TrChFic Links //

Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFic

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