Xi Jinping’s “Little Red Book” for Art Workers of the Nation

What a relief! Now we know that even President Xi Jinping’s speeches must be finely airbrushed before they’re ready for mass consumption. In A Year After Xi’s Landmark Speech on the Arts, Some Things Get Left Out, we learn that his infamous October 2014 closed-door speech to Art Workers of the Nation has finally been released … Continue reading Xi Jinping’s “Little Red Book” for Art Workers of the Nation →

Beijing Oct 19-20 Event: First Int’l Symposium on Uyghur Folk Dastan (داستان) in China

Event: First Int’l Symposium on Uyghur Folk Dastan in China (首届中国维吾尔族民间达斯坦国际学术研讨会) Venue: 北京市海淀区三里河路7号新疆维吾尔自治区政府驻京办事处1号楼 Sponsors: CASS Institute of Ethnic Literature (中国社会科学院民族文学研究所), Xinjiang Federation of Literary and Art Circles (新疆维吾尔自治区文学艺术界联) Organizer: Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Folklore Association (新疆维吾尔自治区民间文艺家协会) Attendees: 50 dastan ( داستان , 达斯坦, destanı) scholars from China, Japan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan and Turkey Background reading: 互动百科：达斯坦试论维吾尔民间达斯坦《玉素甫—艾赫麦德》的流传现状 … Continue reading Beijing Oct 19-20 Event: First Int’l Symposium on Uyghur Folk Dastan (داستان) in China →

Frankfurt Book Fair 2015: China’s Culture of Censorship in the Limelight

Oct 17 Update 纽约时报中文网：美国 12 家出版商集体对中国审查说不＊＊＊＊＊ Oct 16 2015 In Phil Collins and Ai Weiwei Make Waves at Frankfurt Book Fair, we learn that China’s repugnant censorship practices are generating some real pushback: The fair also saw China accepted as the newest member of the International Publishers Association – a … Continue reading Frankfurt Book Fair 2015: China’s Culture of Censorship in the Limelight →

Svetlana Alexievich, Nobel Laureate: China Media’s Initial Reactions

Oct 20 Update Booming Sales of Alexievich's Works: State Media Attributes them to China's "Nobel Complex" Oct 12 Update Man Asian Literary Prize winner Bi Feiyu praises Alexievich and her brand of non-fiction in an interview with Yangzi Evening News: 毕飞宇：今年的诺奖不是一个冷门 . But he does not cite any current practitioners of oral history or investigative journalism … Continue reading Svetlana Alexievich, Nobel Laureate: China Media’s Initial Reactions →

Excerpt of the Week: The Nightjar at Dusk (黄昏夜莺)

So now the escapee nightjar and I were conspirators. I had to stay patient and play my part in its plot. We stood a while longer, though of course the urgent call did not sound. But the boy stood there motionless, gazing up at the spot where the bird had once perched. He already had … Continue reading Excerpt of the Week: The Nightjar at Dusk (黄昏夜莺) →

Pathlight Spring 2015: A Handful of Pieces by Mongolian and Xinjiang-based Writers

The new issue of Pathlight (Spring 2015) Chinese literature in translation is out. Its theme is Nature, and you can download the PDF for free here.A quick look at the contents reveals four pieces that fall at least loosely into the "ethnic-themed" fiction category:Two pieces by Mongolian writers:Wolves Walk Atwain (p 18) Deng Yiguang (邓一光) … Continue reading Pathlight Spring 2015: A Handful of Pieces by Mongolian and Xinjiang-based Writers →

Profile: Xinjiang-based Uyghur Writer Perhat Tursun

In Meet China’s Salman Rushdie, Foreign Policy’s Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian profiles Xinjiang's controversial Uyghur writer Perhat Tursun (پەرھات تۇرسۇن, 帕尔哈提·吐尔逊): Perhat is the author of The Art of Suicide [自杀的艺术], a novel decried as anti-Islamic that in 1999 set off a religious firestorm among Uighurs, the largely Muslim, Turkic minority concentrated in the nominally autonomous Chinese … Continue reading Profile: Xinjiang-based Uyghur Writer Perhat Tursun →

1982-2015 Mao Dun Prize: 43 Winners — But which Ones Truly Benefited Sales-wise?

Over the last few years, the veil has been partially lifted on what has been China’s most coveted literary prize for the novel, the Mao Dun Literature Prize, which is awarded just once every four years. You can bone up on the scandals behind this and other awards here if you like. The Beijing Daily … Continue reading 1982-2015 Mao Dun Prize: 43 Winners — But which Ones Truly Benefited Sales-wise? →

“Funeral of a Muslim”: Sales Top 3m, TV Series in the Pipeline

Sales of Funeral of a Muslim (穆斯林的葬礼, 霍达著), Huo Da’s classic saga of a Hui family in Beijing that spans the turbulent years of the Japanese invasion, World War II and part of the Cultural Revolution, have now topped three million copies, according to a press conference held in the capital on September 11 (突破). This arguably makes … Continue reading “Funeral of a Muslim”: Sales Top 3m, TV Series in the Pipeline →

“Wolf Totem” Author Awarded Prize by World Mongol Authors Association

Jiang Rong, the Han Chinese author of Wolf Totem (狼图腾, 姜戎著), has been awarded the “Genius Writer Prize” (Bichgiin Mergen Prize) by the World Mongol Authors Association based in Mongolia, according to a news item in Mongolia’s UB Post. The novel is a semi-autobiographical novel about the experiences of a young student from Beijing “sent … Continue reading “Wolf Totem” Author Awarded Prize by World Mongol Authors Association →