Sakharov Prize for Uyghur Intellectual Ilham Tohti?

In an open letter entitled Donnons le prix Sakharov à un intellectuel ouïghour published in the French newspaper Libération on July 14, 2016, three prominent French citizens propose awarding the Sakharov Prize to Ilham Tohti: Il est temps que l’opinion publique francophone s’empare de son cas : à force d’évoquer les méfaits de Daech, d’Isis ou de Boko Haram, … Continue reading Sakharov Prize for Uyghur Intellectual Ilham Tohti? →

Elif Şafak on Writing in Today’s Turkey

[Hürriyet Daily News] Would it have been difficult for you to write this book if you were living permanently in Turkey? [Elif Şafak] Words are heavy in Turkey. Every journalist, every writer, every poet, every academic knows this. Because of words we can be sued overnight, put on trial, demonized in newspapers, attacked on social … Continue reading Elif Şafak on Writing in Today’s Turkey →

Reclaiming the Evenki Narrative: Last Shaman’s Daughter Tells her People’s 20th-century Tale

There are only 30,000 or so Evenki (鄂温克族) on the Chinese side of the Sino-Russian border. But this Tungusic-speaking, reindeer-herding people — particularly the group known as the Aoluguya Evenki — has been the subject of several award-winning documentaries and even a novel that won the Mao Dun Literature Prize in 2008. According to an … Continue reading Reclaiming the Evenki Narrative: Last Shaman’s Daughter Tells her People’s 20th-century Tale →

Altaic Storytelling: What We’re Reading Now (2016.4.12)

Just started 冬牧场 (lit, winter pasture) by Li Juan. In 2010, she was commissioned to live with a Kazakh family as they herded their camels, sheep and horses deep into the desert of southern Altay where they traditionally graze during the bitterly cold winter. Her job: To document the little known, semi-nomadic lifestyle of Xinjiang's Kazakh … Continue reading Altaic Storytelling: What We’re Reading Now (2016.4.12) →

Jusup Mamay, Manaschi: A Rehabilitated Rightist and his Turkic Epic

A while back I stumbled upon a short Chinese news item about a newly discovered handwritten manuscript of the Kyrgyz Epic of Manas (玛纳斯史诗). This centuries-old trilogy in verse recounts the exploits of the legendary hero Manas, and his son and grandson in their struggle to resist external enemies and unite the Kyrgyz people. Along … Continue reading Jusup Mamay, Manaschi: A Rehabilitated Rightist and his Turkic Epic →

Soft Power Strategy: Where Does China Figure in Turkey’s Literary Translation Program?

Over the last 11 years, Turkey has 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 on February 24, 2016. TEDA's own chart shows that just 24 titles appeared in Chinese as a result, compared … Continue reading Soft Power Strategy: Where Does China Figure in Turkey’s Literary Translation Program? →

List: Modern China-based Evenki Authors & Their Published Works

* Under Construction * Modern China-based Evenki Authors & Their Published Works This list is based mainly on authors published in 2015 in 《新时期中国少数民族文学作品选集·鄂温克族卷》(lit, Selected Fiction by Ethnic Minority Writers in the New Period, Evenki Volume, at left), but I've added in many of their other published short stories and novels. All links are to … Continue reading List: Modern China-based Evenki Authors & Their Published Works →

Mapping Mongolian Music

In 蒙古音乐地图计划：如何面对外界错位的蒙古文化想象？Thepaper.cn reports on a young Chinese citizen of Mongolian heritage, Odon Tuya (敖登托雅) who has initiated her own “Mongolian Music Map Project” (蒙古音乐地图计划). Her aim: To document the current indie Mongolian music scene – including traditional musicians in places like Xinjiang – via published interviews and, eventually, to capture it on film. A writer … Continue reading Mapping Mongolian Music →

Excerpt: Hong Ke’s Xinjiang novel, “Urho”

Hong Ke's novel, Urho (乌尔禾, 红柯著), is set during the 1960s in the Zungharian Basin at the edge of the Gurbantünggüt Desert. This remote and rugged area of Xinjiang was once a favored hunting ground for the Mongol Khans when they ruled Cathay. A Han soldier back from the Korean front --- dubbed “Hailibu” by … Continue reading Excerpt: Hong Ke’s Xinjiang novel, “Urho” →

Fiction Collections from Daur, Evenki and Oroqen Writers Launched

Three separate volumes of fiction in Chinese have just been published featuring the works of writers of three ethnic groups that have traditionally inhabited northeastern China and even further north in Siberia: the Daur, Evenki and Oroqen (Elunchun). This is of interest because unlike ethnic groups like the Tibetans, Uyhgurs or Mongolians, none of the … Continue reading Fiction Collections from Daur, Evenki and Oroqen Writers Launched →