Date/venue: Apr 4, 3:00-5:00 pm, Beef Up Noodle, 352 3rd Ave, NYC Performance: Kalmyk dombra, throat singing, and folk vocal Background: Performed by artists of the Kalmyk Heritage Center, ages 6 to over 70, drawn from Russia, Inner Mongolia, and the United States. Further details: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/from-zayton-to-new-york-vol11-kalmyk-music-beyond-the-homeland-tickets-1985770699618
This 21st-century study of past and present reciters of the Kyrgyz national epic, Manas, has just been translated from the Chinese (玛纳斯史诗歌手的研究). It includes much detail about the lives and cultivation of manaschi – mainly those based in Xinjiang – and performance of the epic, but I am perhaps most interested in the chapter entitled, The Manaschi … Continue reading Coming soon: My review of “Manaschi: The Singer of the Kirghiz Epic Manas”
As I announced recently, my translation of Chi Zijian’s Last Quarter of the Moon has been launched for a North American readership by Milkweed Editions. More aptly entitled Right Bank of the Argun in Chinese – after the tributary of the Amur that marks the boundary between Russia and northeastern-most China – the novel is a moving tale of the … Continue reading An Illustrated Sequel of Sorts to Chi Zijian’s “Last Quarter of the Moon”
I recently completed two co-translation projects touching on what was known in ancient China as the remote “Western Regions” – Xinjiang and Central Asia, basically. < 漫游草原丝路>, a travelogue by H.K Chang, has now appeared in English as Roaming the Steppe Silk Road, and Jun Liu’s and my rendition of Liu Liangcheng’s < 凿空>, a novel set in … Continue reading Backgrounder: China’s “Steppe Literature”
More than a decade after my translation of the classic tale of the nomadic, reindeer-herding Evenki of northeast China, Last Quarter of the Moon (额尔古纳河右岸， 迟子建 著), was first published, Milkweed Editions --- an independent, non-profit literary publisher --- is launching a special edition targeting N America as of January 13, 2026. Previously published by … Continue reading Launch: N American edition of “Last Quarter of the Moon”
A concert exploring Kyrgyz musical traditions from past to present, curated by Mu Qian, who holds a PhD in ethnomusicology: The concert will include solo, duo, and trio performances drawn from traditional kuu, vocal works, revived repertoire, and new creations shaped by diasporic experience. Through shifting textures and instrumental combinations, the concert highlights both continuity … Continue reading NYC Jan 10 Event: Kyrgyz Music – from Yesterday to Today
In "He Recorded China's Detention of Uyghurs. The U.S. Wants to Deport Him to Uganda," the New York Times (Dec 16, 2025) reports: In 2020, a Chinese citizen had heard reports about China’s mass detention and surveillance of Uyghurs. But he wanted to see if they were true for himself. So the citizen, Heng Guan, … Continue reading Documenting Uyghur Detention Camps in Fiction and Non-fiction
《额尔古纳河右岸》的外文版 Current Translations of the Novel Arabic (الربع الأخير من القمر); Dutch (Het laatste kwartier van de maan, translated direct from my English version); English (Last Quarter of the Moon); Finnish (Poulikku); French (Le dernier quartier de lune); German (Das letzte Viertel des Mondes); Italian (Ultimo quarto di Luna); Japanese (アルグン川の右岸) ; Korean (《어얼구나 강의 … Continue reading Foreign Language Editions of Chi Zijian’s “Last Quarter of the Moon”
Synopsis: The Audible Annals of Abudan (Based on the Chinese novel by Liu Liangcheng) Within your lifetime, many things will disappear before your eyes. Only those you yearn for won’t arrive. … Continue reading Synopsis: “The Audible Annals of Abudan” (梗概：《凿空)
Back in 2016, I noted that during 2005-16, Turkey spent US$4.4m to fund translation and publication of fiction by Turkish authors via its TEDA grant program, according to Turkish Books, an article that appeared in the Hürriyet Daily. TEDA's own chart at the time showed that the grant program subsidized the translation and publication of 258 books in … Continue reading 2024 Update: Soft Power Strategy — Where Does China Figure in Turkey’s Literary Translation Program?
Altaic Storytelling 