“Sidik Golden MobOff”: Li Bai was Uyghur

An Excerpt from Sidik Golden MobOff by Alat Asem 斯迪克金子关机  阿拉提·阿斯木 著 First published in Peregrine, Issue 14, June 2013 Translated by Bruce Humes In our community, the only person who excelled at translating Uyghur into Chinese was Big Brother Sidik, and this was the inexhaustible source of his arrogance and aloofness. His colleagues and fellow students … Continue reading “Sidik Golden MobOff”: Li Bai was Uyghur

Extract: Alat Asem’s Novel “Confessions of a Jade Lord” (时间悄悄的嘴脸)

An excerpt from the newly published novel by Uyghur author Alat Asem, Confessions of a Jade Lord 《时间悄悄的嘴脸》 Chapter 19 Rechristening a High-rise In the midst of his hectic days as minor-character-cum-stagehand, Exet the Mouse’s magnificent new sobriquet — “Suet Exet” — fails to resonate. Those two sheep were indeed sacrificed in vain. Afterwards, he … Continue reading Extract: Alat Asem’s Novel “Confessions of a Jade Lord” (时间悄悄的嘴脸)

Uyghur Author Alat Asem: Backgrounder in French

Brigitte Duzan at chinese-shortstories.com has just posted a detailed introduction to Alat Asem (阿拉提·阿斯木), a bilingual Uyghur writer based in Xinjiang. Here is her translation of the editor's Afterword to his collection of short stories, 蝴蝶时代 (The Butterfly Era): Dans le paysage éditorial de la littérature contemporaine chinoise, la littérature du Xinjiang dégage un charme … Continue reading Uyghur Author Alat Asem: Backgrounder in French

Alat Asem’s 《时间悄悄的嘴脸》: Guide to Related Links

 Alat Asem’s Confessions of a Jade Lord 《时间悄悄的嘴脸》阿拉提·阿斯木 著 Translated by Bruce Humes and Jun Liu Author's Background 阿拉提·阿斯木_百度百科 Literary Bio Présentation: Alat Asem (en français) Book Reviews Turkey's Sabah: A Gem of Uyghur Literature Academic Papers 翟晓甜 张治安:阿拉提·阿斯木的超越与创新——读《时间悄悄的嘴脸》  Renditions of the Novel Chinese original: 《时间悄悄的嘴脸》  Excerpt: Rechristening a High-rise (Chapter 19) The Translation Process  Co-translating … Continue reading Alat Asem’s 《时间悄悄的嘴脸》: Guide to Related Links

Quick Guide to China’s Contemporary Ethnic-themed Literature in Translation

Updated: May 3, 2018 (No plans to further update) Quick Guide to China’s Contemporary  Ethnic-themed Literature in Translation I’m often too busy to immediately write a well-researched post about contemporary “ethnic-themed” fiction that has been translated and published in a foreign tongue. This is a loose category (民族题材文学) that includes stories — regardless of the … Continue reading Quick Guide to China’s Contemporary Ethnic-themed Literature in Translation

2015 Mao Dun Prize: Who Will Snare Award for Unofficial “Ethnic-themed” Category?

The longlist for what is arguably China’s most prestigious award for novels has just been published (第九届茅盾文学奖参评作品目录). I write “arguably” because, like virtually every literary competition in the PRC of late, even the reputation of the Mao Dun Literature Prize --- sponsored by the very official Chinese Writers Association --- has been questioned. See 2014: Year of … Continue reading 2015 Mao Dun Prize: Who Will Snare Award for Unofficial “Ethnic-themed” Category?

July 2014: Update on Uyghur Writers and Writing as Crackdown Gains Momentum

In the wake of two high-profile and deadly attacks reportedly carried out by Uyghurs outside of their traditional homeland, the Chinese authorities have launched a multi-faceted campaign to crush what they see as a terrorist movement that aims at founding an independent state in the Xinjiang autonomous region covering one-sixth of Chinese territory. I am … Continue reading July 2014: Update on Uyghur Writers and Writing as Crackdown Gains Momentum

June Training Sessions: Authors of Five Major non-Han Languages Meet their Translators

During June 5-9, Nationalities Literature Magazine (民族文学) organized an intensive “editing/rewriting training course” (改稿班) that brought together the magazine’s editors with twenty-plus Kazakh writers and their translators. Mandarin and Kazakh aside, the magazine appears in Mongolian, Korean, Tibetan and Uyghur, and training sessions for writers and translators of the latter four languages are also scheduled to … Continue reading June Training Sessions: Authors of Five Major non-Han Languages Meet their Translators

Excerpt: Uyghur Writer Alat Asem’s “Sidik Golden MobOff”

Here's an excerpt from my translation of Sidik Golden MobOff (《斯迪克金子关机》) by the bilingual Uyghur author, Alat Asem (阿拉提 · 阿斯木), that is published in full in Issue 14 of Chutzpah!: IN A WORLD of snow and ice, buses began to budge and Muslims began to discuss Sidik Golden MobOff in hushed tones. One comment reached … Continue reading Excerpt: Uyghur Writer Alat Asem’s “Sidik Golden MobOff”

Chutzpah!: Latest Issue Devoted to Writers of non-Han Descent

Good news from the bimonthly Chinese literary magazine Chutzpah! (天南): the latest edition (Issue 14) is devoted entirely to writing by authors of non-Han descent. Several languages are involved here—most are published in Chinese, but some were written in other tongues and then translated into Chinese, while one has been rendered in English. The latter … Continue reading Chutzpah!: Latest Issue Devoted to Writers of non-Han Descent