Yu Hua: Fictional Cities
The bestselling Chinese novelist foregrounds individual suffering in the chaos of modern Chinese history. In his latest novel in translation, gratuitous violence shows the limits...
No Country for a Woman
Women in China have suffered abuse, silencing and erasure — despite the Communist Party’s slogans about women’s liberation. Two novels by the Wuhan writer Fang...
The Storytelling Robot
A science fiction story by Fei Dao, translated by Alec Ash — plus a Q&A with the author on the importance of Chinese sci-fi.
Ep. 23: Mark Kitto on Shanghai in the 2000s
The author and former media mogul explains why he chose fiction as the best way to capture Shanghai’s go-go years in his new novel.
Ep. 21: Jenna Tang on Taiwan’s MeToo Movement
We talked to the translator of a novel that helped launch #MeToo in Taiwan, about why both the movement and the book are having a...
Yan Geling: Crossing the Red Line
The acclaimed novelist and screenwriter built an audience in China for her powerful historical narratives. Then, somewhere, she crossed a line. What is it like...
Translated Chinese Literature: Short Fiction
Short stories are all the rage in Chinese, but get short shrift in the West. We picked five recent translated collections, from riveting horror tales...
Found in Translation
An award-winning novel set in Japanese-ruled Taiwan explores the relationship between colonizer and subaltern, translator and translated — and how some distances can’t be closed.
Ep. 17: Lau Yee-Wa on Hong Kong Fiction
We talked to the author of "Tongueless" about how Cantonese is disappearing from Hong Kong schools, and what literature can do to raise awareness.
The Thrilling Truth
A new thriller set in 1930s Shanghai includes just enough historical detail to be believable. But is history at risk of being overtaken by fiction?
Don’t Write Off the Mao Dun Literature Prize
Never mind the Booker, Pulitzer and National Book Award — China’s Mao Dun Prize, despite its behind-the-times reputation, can shift the reading habits of a...
Ep. 11: Beijing in Short Fiction
China’s capital is so difficult to capture that sometimes only fiction can suffice. The editor of a new short story collection explains how a literary...