Tag: Bruce Humes

An Illustrated Sequel of Sorts to Chi Zijian’s “Last Quarter of the Moon”

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” →

Q & A: “Last Quarter of the Moon”

Noting that my rendition of one of China’s best-selling novels about the twilight of the reindeer-herding Evenki, 额尔古纳河右岸 (The Last Quarter of the Moon), was to be launched in January 2026 – targeting the North American market – China Publishing & Media Journal (中国出版传媒商报) offered to interview me. I gladly accepted and answered in English, … Continue reading Q & A: “Last Quarter of the Moon” →

New Travelogue: <The Steppe Silk Road>

February 2026: Now available for purchase here Roaming the Steppe Silk Road  By H. K. Chang (漫游草原丝路, 张信刚 著) Translated by Bruce Humes in collaboration with the author In the 1960s as a doctoral student in the United States, H. K. Chang happened upon a copy of Owen Lattimore’s 1940 edition of Inner Asian Frontiers of China at a used … Continue reading New Travelogue: <The Steppe Silk Road> →

Launch: N American edition of “Last Quarter of the Moon”

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” →

“Daughter of Dunhuang”: Fan Jinshi’s Biography Launched at Moscow Book Fair

The Russian version of the Dunhuang-based archaeologist Fan Jinshi’s biography, биография фань цзиньши сердце мое в дуньхуане , has just been officially launched at the 2025 Moscow Book Fair. This makes it the second foreign language edition to date; my translation of her《我心归处是敦煌》(Daughter of Dunhuang: Memoir of a Mogao Grottoes Researcher) was published in 2024. … Continue reading “Daughter of Dunhuang”: Fan Jinshi’s Biography Launched at Moscow Book Fair →

Ikram Nurmehmet: Travails of Uyghur cinematography in the People’s Paradise

In Balancing What Can Be Said with What Can Only Be Implied, Shelly Kraicer explores the cinematic themes of young Uyghur filmmaker Ikram Nurmehmet, imprisoned in Xinjiang since 2023, likely due to having studied in Turkey: It is always difficult for what China calls “ethnic minority” (i.e. non-Han Chinese) filmmakers to make the films they … Continue reading Ikram Nurmehmet: Travails of Uyghur cinematography in the People’s Paradise →

Trilingual Links to Writing by Xinjiang’s Liu Liangcheng (刘亮程)

Jun Liu and I have completed our translation of a novel, 凿空, by Liu Liangcheng, a Han author born and bred in the part of northwest China that borders on Central Asia. The novel’s working title is The Audible Annals of Abudan, but the Chinese title can be rendered as “Hollowed Out.” Ms. Yvonne Wang … Continue reading Trilingual Links to Writing by Xinjiang’s Liu Liangcheng (刘亮程) →

The Audible Annals of Abudan: Chapter by chapter breakdown

The Audible Annals of Abudan Chapter-by-Chapter Outline (42 in total) Prologue Donkey’s Hee-haw Donkeys bray crimson, and their crimson bray has propped up the sky for Abudan in southern Xinjiang for centuries. When Zhang Jin comes home stone deaf from a mine, he finds the village smothered in police sirens. 1 Digging Two decades of … Continue reading The Audible Annals of Abudan: Chapter by chapter breakdown →

Synopsis: “The Audible Annals of Abudan” (梗概：《凿空)

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) →

“Audible Annals” — Quick Takes

A novel with donkeys as heroes? Unlikely as it sounds, The Audible Annals of Abudan is a great read. Comic, but with very dark undertones, this is a satire about a side of China (or at least its far-western fringes) that will be unfamiliar to readers, and an eye-opener. The translation is lively and the narrative is … Continue reading “Audible Annals” — Quick Takes →