The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast

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Ep 54 - Qiu Miaojin and Notes of a Crocodile with Conor Stuart

May 7, 2021

‘Some desires, once formed, are impossible to fulfil, so they become frustrations instead. That’s the problem with going forth into new worlds’

[ this is episode 2 of our Taiwan Season ]

In the fifty fourth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are thumbing through the Notes of a Crocodile (鳄鱼手记 / Èyú Shǒujì). Joining me on the lookout for the shy and elusive reptiloid is Conor Stuart.

// NEWS ITEMS //

// WORDS OF THE DAY //

(三八 - Sānbā - usually derogatory adjective used to describe ‘frivolous’ women)

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

// Handy TrChFic Links //

https://www.blacksmithbooks.com/books/destination-peking/

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Ep 53 - The Membranes with Chi Ta-wei and Ari Larissa Heinrich

April 28, 2021

‘Two peach trees, two entirely different universes.’

[ this is episode 1 of our Taiwan Season ]

In the fifty third episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are peeling back The Membranes (膜 / Mó). Joining me at their respective computer terminals in the ocean floor biodome are its author Chi Ta-wei and translator Ari Larissa Heinrich.

// NEWS ITEMS //

// WORDS OF THE DAY //

(赞 - zàn - ‘like’, as in Facebook, Wechat etc)

(情 - qíng - emotion, affection, sentiment)

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

// Episode Sponsor //

Buy Paul French’s Destination Peking here:

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Ep 51 - Li Juan’s Xinjiang non-fiction with Christopher Payne and Jack Hargreaves

March 25, 2021

'I stand alone on the earth, unable to bring the show to an end'

In the 51st episode of the Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast, we're heading into the far west to come face-to-face with Li Juan, a Han Chinese writer who has found some degree of fame writing soulfully about her experiences living among the Kazakh herders of Xinjiang Province. Braving the frontier with me are two of her translators, TrChFic returnee Christopher Payne and friend-of-the-pod Jack Hargreaves. The former translated Li Juan's Distant Sunflower Fields and the latter is one of the two co-translators of her Winter Pasture.

// NEWS ITEMS //

// WORDS OF THE DAY //

(“Koychy!” - a versatile Kazakh exclamation, often meaning “no way,” “no thanks,” “get out,” “leave it out” )

( 荒野 - huāngyě- wilderness)

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

// Handy TrChFic Links //

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Ep 47 - Ma Jian and Beijing Coma with Ronald Torrance

February 5, 2021

When you've stared at the past for so long that time dissolves, you'll be able to wake from your slumber

In the forty seventh episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are falling into Beijing Coma (肉之土 / Ròu Zhī Tǔ). Avid Ma Jian reader Ronald Torrance is here to guide me from perimeter to epicentre of this colossal novel, and the weighty events it reckons with. Even without politics, stakes are high here: life/death, time/memory, flesh/history, and the intimate bonds that can exist between translators and writers.

// NEWS ITEMS //

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(地标 - Dìbiāo - Landmark)

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

The People's Republic of Amnesia by Louisa Lim
Beijing from Below: Stories of Marginal Lives in the Capital's Centre by Harriet Evans
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeline Thien
What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear by Baoshu
Prisoner of the State by Zhao Ziyang
Death Fugue by Sheng Keyi
Balloon by Pema Tseden
The loneliness of Yan Lianke
Mo Yan & censorship
How China's censors are taught about 'restricted topics'
Meng Po and her memory-erasing soup
Cui Jian, rock music, and socialist/patriotic anthems at Tiananmen

// Handy TrChFic Links //

INSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD // HOMEPAGE

Ep 45 - Strange Beasts of China with Yan Ge and Jeremy Tiang

January 14, 2021

In bars like this, on nights like this, the people of Yong'an would talk of death

In the forty fifth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are hunting for the Strange Beasts of China (异兽志 - Yì Shòu Zhì). Two very special guests are joining me this time - the book's author Yan Ge and its translator Jeremy Tiang. If I sound a little off-kilter this episode, it's because I'm star struck!

// NEWS ITEMS //

Faraway by Lo Yi-Chin - coming out this September
How Lin Qi's Poisoning Death Shocked China - A suspected murder by poisoning related to the Three Body Netflix adaptation
Round up, Round up - News #1 - Paper Republic now has its own news roundup!

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(异 - Yì - strange/different)

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

The Shanhaijing
Bestiary by K-Ming Chang
Fifty Sounds by Polly Barton
Attrib by Eley Williams
I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
the mighty 小儿赶牛 - red bull & ergoutou baijiu
the seven sages of the bamboo grove
The 'san xian/third line' industrialisation plan

// Handy TrChFic Links //

INSTAGRAM 👹 TWITTER 👹 DISCORD 👹 HOMEPAGE

Ep 44 - Ge Fei and Peach Blossom Paradise with Canaan Morse

December 22, 2020

Every person's heart is an island, trapped by water, sequestered from the world

In the forty fourth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are going in search of Peach Blossom Paradise (人面桃花 - Rénmiàn Táohuā) by Ge Fei. Rowing me through the lingering mists and dark waters is craftmaster Canaan Morse, its translator.

Ge Fei has been covered once before on this show. We did his Flock of Brown Birds in Episode 30. This time we are dealing with something less surreal. On the surface, it's a typical 'important Chinese novelist writes historical saga' affair. But beneath...

// NEWS ITEMS //

There and Back Again: Tracking Down Transliterations in Stories of the Sahara - a blog from translator Mike Fu
Paper Republic's 2020 Roll Call of Published Translations from Chinese
Understanding Chinese Fantasy Genres - a guide from translator Jeremy Bai AKA Deathblade

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(徒 - Tú - in vain)

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

the 100 Days' Reform
The Invisibility Cloak also by Ge Fei
In the Heat of the Sun (1994, dir. Jiang Wen)
The Tradition of Telling and the Desire of Showing in Ge Fei’s ‘Fictional Minds’

// Handy TrChFic Links //

INSTAGRAM 🌸 TWITTER 🌸 DISCORD 🌸 HOMEPAGE

Ep 43 - Can Xue and I Live in the Slums with Stefan Rusinov

November 26, 2020

'Underneath the hole is another hole. Do you dare go down?'

In the forty third episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are grappling with the experimental literature of Can Xue, as embodied in I Live in the Slums. Helping me train for the performance of a lifetime is Chinese-to-Bulgarian translator & friend of the pod, Stefan Rusinov.

// NEWS ITEMS //

Yan Ge's White Horse shortlisted for the Warwick Women in Translation prize
Lovecraftian stories from the Chinese internet: The Flock of Ba Hui

// WORD OF THE DAY //

(审丑 - shěn chǒu - examining ugliness AND/OR the abject, if you like)

// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

-

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Translator Poppy Toland on Paper Republic

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Ep 30 - Ge Fei and Flock of Brown Birds with Eric Abrahamsen

April 21, 2020

Ep 30 art

"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

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// WORDS OF THE DAY //

(记忆 / Jìyì / memory)

(叙事者 / Xùshìzhě / narrator)

// DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE //

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Buy Me a Coffee

Bonus Shows on Patreon

Michelle Deeter's homepage

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Ep 29 - Song Aman and Gongsun’s Dreams with Michelle Deeter

April 12, 2020

Ep 29 art

"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.

Song Aman on Paper Republic

// NEWS ITEMS //

// WORDS OF THE DAY //

(魔方 / mófāng / rubik's cube)

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

// DISCUSSED IN THE EPISODE //

// Handy TrChFic Links //

Buy Me a Coffee

Bonus Shows on Patreon