The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast

‘Suppose the universe is a program. Everything that we can observe is the result of the machine-executable code. But the cosmic microwave background can be understood as the record of some earlier version of the source code.’In the sixty forth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we bear witness to the Coming of the Light (开光 / Kāiguāng), penned by the shaman-consulting Google graduate himself; it’s Stan, it’s the man, it’s Chen Qiufan. And hark – what’s this? Waves and photons in the shape of noted publisher Francesco Verso surge from the underscreen to puncture my cybernetic solipsism, but will our agile enterprise decode the universe before its unravelling, or are all digital startups nought but the initiation of the end?-// NEWS ITEMS //READ: A Ramble Through the Heart: A Semi-Coherent Attempt at Self-Justification by Chua Chim Kang, tr Tan Dan Feng, from Renditions Issue 96LISTEN: My Scandinavian nemesis strikes again - Owlish and Other Translated Languages with Natascha BruceROUNDTABLE: Can Chinese Science Fiction Transcend Binary Thinking?REVIEW: TrChFic named ‘Shiver-Worthy Runner-Up’ in: {Scary’s Voices} Sound Bites for November 26th- // WORD OF THE DAY //(云 - yún - cloud)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Chan/Zen BuddhismZhongguancun - the Silicon Valley of BeijingSolarpunk - according to the BBCWired’s article on Silicon Valley BuddhismAnd…Wired’s brilliant article on Chen Qiufan - some more evidence of his interest in the shamans of China’s peripherythe PRC's internet/gaming addiction camps

In my innocent youth, I was a paragon of virtue, but after wandering for so long in the red dust of this world I had joined the forces of evilIn the sixty third episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction we are Dancing Through Red Dust (原谅我红尘颠倒 / Yuánliàng Wǒ Hóngchén Diāndǎo), a nightmarish lurch through the PRC (il)legal system dreamed up by the Shandong webnovelist-turned-dissident Murong Xuecun. Presiding over the court with me is Murong’s esteemed translator, editor, publisher, and friend: Harvey Tomlinson. What have judges to do with the Jinpingmei? What has loss to do with licentiousness? How does Buddhism end up parceled in with backhand business? You shut up and listen. We’ll deliver the verdict.-// NEWS ITEMS //Strange Beasts of China lands a spot on the NYT’s 100 Notable Books of 2021How an American fell in love with China and Chinese - Great SCMP article on/by translator/Mr Paper Republic, Eric AbrahamsenNew & queued TrChFic Patreon episodes: 2046, The Road Home, Taiwan symposium, Faraway, and a kehuan battle royaleSinoist Books have upgraded their website-// WORDS OF THE DAY //(晚 & 碗 - wǎn & wǎn - ‘evening’ and ‘bowl’)(色 - sè - here meaning ‘carnality’)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Leave Me Alone by Murong Xuecun himselfThe Strike - Harvey’s experimental syntax novelRed dust 红尘 - a Sino-Buddhist conceptThe Plum in the Golden Vase and a horrible Jin Ping Mei anime dollRunning Around Beijing by Xu ZechenNorthern Girls by Sheng Keyi

Before us stood the long abandoned skyscrapers of Manhattan, the Sun's weak light casting their long shadows across the quiet ice of the New York Harbor. In my tipsy haze, tears began to gush down my cheeks.In the sixty second episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are setting sail on The Wandering Earth (流浪地球 / Liúlàng Dìqiú), drawn up and captained by Liu Cixin himself. Calling into the show from the Peruvian Engine Bunker is Jairo Morales. We get deep into postnationalism, censorship, cultural transmission, and the sublime spectacle of the utter annihilation of our planet’s fragile surface. Goodbye solarpunk, hello solardoom.-// NEWS ITEMS //The Tyranny of Neutrality - Virginia L Conn reviews AI 2041TrChFic Meta News: The Leeds Centre Taiwan Literature SymposiumHKKH interviews Dorothy TseAnnounced by Tweet: Amazon Crossing will publish a translation of Han Song’s Hospital Trilogy-// WORD OF THE DAY //(短暂的 - Duǎnzànde - ephemeral/efimero)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Jairo’s musical pairings: Gymnopédie No 1 by Erik Satie & 消愁 - Xiao Chou (Drown One's Sorrows) by Mao Buyi 毛不易Angus’ musical pairing: Black Light Machine by FrostMagical realism from Latin AmericaThe Emerging Japanese Superstate by Herman Kahn - 70s think tank guy does a yellow peril, history buries himChuang article: The Wandering Earth: A Reflection of the Chinese New Right200 Drones Fall Out Of The Sky In China’s ZhengzhouKen Liu’s anthology of Chinese sci-fi: Invisible PlanetsThe Cultural Revolution as ‘partially denouncable’

I loathe reason. Reason is the sort of rubbish you can indulge in when life is sweet, like love and honour. I totally reject it.In the sixty first episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction we are opening The Book of Sins (冒犯书 / Màofàn Shū), by edgelord-with-a-conscience Chen Xiwo. Playing common-sense counterpoint to my doom-laden interpretations of the text is its translator, Nicky Harman. Here’s what we deal with: pain, incest, and the political uses of shock, horror, and offensiveness. Are you sure about this? You can delete this episode now. Do you choose to hit play?-// NEWS ITEMS //The Dark Forest Theory of the Internet by Bogna Konoir - applies Liu Cixin’s logic to cyberspaceSense of Place - new issue of Pathlight MagazineGei Fei’s Peach Blossom Paradise bags spot in translated literature finalist list for US 2021 National Book AwardsTOR announces full contents of The Way Spring Arrives-// WORD OF THE DAY //(痛 - tòng - pain)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Chen Xiwo’s speech on literary censorship in the PRC, given at the Hong Kong Foreign Correspondents Club in 2010A Banned Take on Contemporary China: Wall Street Journal review of The Book of SinsLit by Mary Karr, a considerably more functional individualPlaying for Thrills … 1988: I Want to Talk with the World … Dancing Through Red Dust … Shanghai Baby … A Perfect Crime

Just as Nga-Yee thought everything was going back to normal, Siu-Man stepped from the window of their twenty-second-story flatIn the sixtieth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are solving the case of Second Sister (網內人 / Wǎng Nèi Rén), penned by crime connoisseur Chan Ho-kei. Logged on with guest-level access and ready to follow the trail wherever it leads is 3-time visitor to the show Michelle Deeter. In the events that follow we hack into moral frameworks, digital archives, memory glitches, and urban navigation.-// NEWS ITEMS //Gŵyl Haf & Borderless Book Club - International Translation Day eventAI 2041: Why the Future is Already Here, with Kai-Fu LeeChen Qiufan does an animated TED video to help promote AI 2041a TrChFic 80 minute breakdown of ChQF’s Coming of the LightDark as a Boy - an excerpt of Ho Fok Song’s Maze Carpet, tr by Natascha Bruce-// WORD OF THE DAY //(人肉搜索引擎 - rénròu sōusuǒ yǐnqíng - human flesh search engine)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Stress in Hong KongSocial engineering within hackingJung’s concept of the personaForm and Ideology in Crime Fiction by Stephen KnightThe Untouched Crime by Zijin ChenA Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

It is a long and painful process to see oneself clearly, as is the process of returning to one’s childhood.In the fifty ninth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are talking with someone who is More Than One Child (隐形小孩 / Yǐnxíng Xiǎohái), a woman as friendly as she is fearless: Shen Yang. She’s here on this episode, and so is her translator, friend-of-the-pod, and returnee guest Nicky Harman. The book is forthcoming from the excellent publisher Balestier Press.-// NEWS ITEMS //From July 2nd: PEN Translates awards announced, including two titles from the PRCDylan Levi King tries out movie commentary for Obsession 疯狂的代价 (1988)New book from Astra House: Yu Xiuhua’s Moonlight Rests on My Left PalmPublisher’s Weekly shares a Spotlight on Six Contemporary Chinese Fiction Writers-// WORD OF THE DAY //(葳蕤 - wēi ruí - lush, burgeoning foliage)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //'琵琶語 Pipa Yu' by 林海 Lin Hai - Shen Yang’s musical pairingWhen Everything Is Green by Julie Christmas & All The World is Green by Tom Waits - Angus’ musical pairingsThe One Child PolicyThe Liar’s Club by Mary KarrOur Story: A Memoir of Love and Life in China by Rao Pingru, trans. Nicky HarmanLeftover in China: The Women Shaping the World's Next Superpower by Roseann LakeRobert Winston’s BBC program on memory… sadly it’s not streaming anywhere

The moment I was bitten, I died and became another thing. Now I am loitering on the other shore of the Styx, listening to the past from beyond its waves.In the fifty eighth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are picking Flower of the Other Shore (彼岸花 / Bǐ'àn Huā), a romantic(!) zombie short story by A Que. Here to help me find sympathy for the undead is the tale’s translator, Xueting Ni. The story will feature in her anthology of translated Chinese sci-fi: Sinopticon.-// NEWS ITEMS //Hao Jingfang’s Vagabonds shortlisted for the 2021 Arthur C. Clarke AwardLeeds Centre for New Chinese Writing launches new journal & calls for papersTrChFIc Meta News: Ximalaya feed censored, stoopid Lu Xun meme blows up-// WORD OF THE DAY //(丧尸 - sàngshī - zombie)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Intertextuality - big word for a simple conceptWorld War Z - the book & the filmXueting’s From Kuan Yin to Chairman Mao: The Essential Guide to Chinese DeitiesThe Reincarnated Giant: An Anthology of Twenty-First-Century Chinese Science FictionTrail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse-// Handy TrChFic Links //Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFicINSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

Chih-Ying Lay and Darryl Sterk discuss 'Home Sickness' in this episode, exploring historical use of poisons, Ketamine in politics, translating nature, family relationships, emotional connections, and failed scholars. They touch on translating indigenous works, Asian literature publishers, and the importance of authentic representation in Taiwanese literature.

‘According to the ancient precepts, grief supersedes all formalities’[ this is episode 4 of our Taiwan Season ][full episode transcript]In the fifty sixth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are introducing ourselves to the Taipei People (台北人 / Táiběi Rén), as written by Pai Hsien-yung. Joining me to question the merits of nostalgia and muse aimlessly on umbrellas and the like is a genuine Taibei ren; the effortlessly hip Nadia Ho.-// NEWS ITEMS //Issue One of ‘Jintian’ - the legendary Chinese lit magazineREAD: The Killer 撞死了一只羊 by Tsering NorbuTwo Poems by Bei Dao - commemorating June 4th-// WORD OF THE DAY //(夢 - màng - dream)Note I’ve used the character’s traditional form and local Taiwanese pronunciation here!-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //The Taste of Apples by Huang Chun-Ming tr. Howard GoldblattDubliners by James JoyceKun opera - Mr Pai’s favourite styleThe May 4th Movement & Battle of TsingtaoThe Paramount Ballroom in Shanghai-// Handy TrChFic Links //Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFicINSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD

‘Only if you go to places nobody’s ever been can you see the colours nobody’s ever seen’[ this is episode 3 of our Taiwan Season ]In the fifty fifth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are meeting The Man with the Compound Eyes (复眼人 / Fùyǎn Rén). Brace yourself for the impact of an ecological, apocalyptic, and internationalist vortex of literary weirdness. Joining me to weather this storm at the limits of anthropoid cognition is Sinophone-sci-fi-studier Cara Healey.-// NEWS ITEMS //The Secret Talker by Geling YanQueer Taiwanese Literature: A Reader By Howard ChiangThe Rainbow of Time by Jimmy Liao-// WORDS OF THE DAY //(涡流 - wōliú - vortex, whirlpool)-// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //Waste Tide by Chen Qiufanthe Indigenous people of TaiwanDavid Mitchell and impending doomThe Reincarnated Giant: An Anthology of Twenty-First-Century Chinese Science Fiction-// Handy TrChFic Links //Episode Transcripts // Help Support TrChFicINSTAGRAM // TWITTER // DISCORD