Night Bus, by Zuo Ma, translated from Chinese by Orion Martin. Early in my reading of Night Bus, something strange happened: I began to feel nostalgic for the Chinese countryside of the 1980’s and 90’s. Not that I’ve ever been to China; Zuo Ma’s ability to evoke a sense of place with his incredibly detailed … Continue reading #IntlYALitMonth: Night Bus
Day 15: 🇨🇳 Half a Lifelong Romance
In a Nutshell: Half a Lifelong Romance is set in the 1930s, the only clue of when the book is set, is a reference towards the end of the book, to the Battle of Shanghai, which started in August 1937: “the battle of Shanghai began in mid-august and the fighting was intense for three months.” … Continue reading Day 15: 🇨🇳 Half a Lifelong Romance
The Booktrekker: China
READ There were so many books I could have chosen for China, and making a decision about which one to read was difficult. In the end, I picked Dai Sijie's Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, translated by Ina Rilke, because I loved the book’s cover and its title. The narrator is a seventeen-year-old boy, whose … Continue reading The Booktrekker: China
Speculative Fiction in Translation: The Three-Body Trilogy
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu translated from the Chinese by Ken Liu series: Remembrance of Earth’s Past (Book 1) Tor Books November 11, 2014 400 pages The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu translated from the Chinese by Joel Martinsen series: Remembrance of Earth’s Past (Book 2) Tor Books August 11, 2015 512 pages Death's … Continue reading Speculative Fiction in Translation: The Three-Body Trilogy
#WorldKidLit Wednesday: Dragonfly Eyes
Oxymoronic as it may sound, there is an exciting comfort in picking up a book by a beloved author—or, as in Dragonfly Eyes, a beloved, award-winning writer-translator team. What joys, worlds, and experiences lurk within its pages? Will anticipation be tempered by disappointment? In the case of Dragonfly Eyes*, Cao Wenxuan’s new YA historical novel, … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Dragonfly Eyes
Interview with Rachel Yung-Hsin Wang
This post is published simultaneously on Chinese Books for Young Readers Kirkus reviewer Rachel Yung-Hsin Wang has lived and worked in many parts of the world, and is something of a polyglot. Earlier this year she completed an MFA in Writing for Children at Simmons University, having won a Lee & Low and Simmons Friends … Continue reading Interview with Rachel Yung-Hsin Wang
Literature of Exile: Poetry (part 1)
Many of the earliest poems known, from the ancient world, deplore the pain of exile. Whether it is the highly stylized verse of the Arab world, or the oral recitation of Western Saharan, exiles and refugees from all parts of the world have shared their experiences of grief, loss and homesickness through poetry. With so … Continue reading Literature of Exile: Poetry (part 1)
#TranslatedLit An Introduction to Tilted Axis Press
At Tilted Axis Press we publish contemporary literature translated from Asian languages into a variety of Englishes. We started in 2015 and have released 20 books (and four chapbooks) since then, by authors from Japan to Uzbekistan, Nepal to Thailand. We’re not really confined to a genre or type and have published novels, short stories, … Continue reading #TranslatedLit An Introduction to Tilted Axis Press
#TranslatedLit Three titles for the autumn by Tilted Axis Press
We close this tumultuous year with three titles – No Presents Please: Mumbai Stories, Women Dreaming and Strange Beasts of China – translated from Kannada, Tamil, and Chinese, respectively. First up, and finishing up our 2020 trifecta of short stories – and following on from Where the Wild Ladies Are by Matsuda Aoko (translated from … Continue reading #TranslatedLit Three titles for the autumn by Tilted Axis Press
#TranslatedLit Comma Press: Reading the City Anthologies by Becca Parkinson
Since its inception, Comma Press has aimed to put short stories at the heart of narrative culture. We specialise in the form for a multitude of reasons, but to mention just a few, publishing short stories is an attempt to democratise literature, to call for pluralism, and to identify cutting-edge and often marginalised voices from … Continue reading #TranslatedLit Comma Press: Reading the City Anthologies by Becca Parkinson
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 