finds the best sources to discover literary works.
Asia Literary Review
As the name suggests, this
stalwart of the literary scene is
an independent quarterly literary
magazine publishing contemporary
writing from and about Asia,
in English and in translation.
Launched from Hong Kong in 2000,
the compact mag is packed with
interviews, stories and poetry from
across Asia and aims to promote
the best works being written across
the continent.
Highlights from 2016
include an interview and short story
from acclaimed Chinese-Indonesian
writer Xu Xi, poetry from award winning
Chinese poets Zhu Zhu and
Yu Jian and an extract from the novel
Let’s Give it Up For Gimme Lao! from
wuxia writer Sebastian Sim.
Get it Pick up a copy for 100RMB at
independent bookstores, view some
articles for free at
asialiteraryreview.com or
subscribe for 30USD
annually. You can also order individual editions directly
from the website.
Asymptote
With contemporary designs and a
well-linked-up online operation, this is
about as street as literary translation
gets. Describing itself as the premier
site for world literature in translation,
Asymptote’s magazine and website
offer a plethora of plays, short stories
and poetry in translation, plus links
to read the works in their original text
and a rather nifty feature to play audio
recordings in the original language.
The latest edition featured a
translation from the controversial
Ten Years of Marriage by late Chinese
playwright and
author Su Qing,
and a poem
from author and
photographer Hsia
Yü’s
First Person.
Other feature
writers
translated
include masters
of Chinese
literature
such as Mo
Yan, Can Xue
and Ouyang
Jianghe.
Asymptote is
a quarterly journal plus online site,
blog, newsletter, podcast and event
organiser, and is probably the coolest
operation on our list.
Chinese Literature Today
The academic heavyweight of
Chinese literary journals, this
biannual litmag has been published
in the US since 2010. The prestigious
World Literature Today, founded at
the University of Oklahoma in 1927,
worked together with the Beijing
Normal University to produce a
special issue focusing on Chinese
literature in 2007, which sparked
the idea for a magazine focused
specifically on the enormous
area of new Chinese writing.
Chinese Literature Today is the
result, an authoritative discussion
and showcase of contemporary
Chinese writing.
Bear in mind that it is published
with an academic viewpoint, so
along
with
features
on Chinese
scholars and
works in translation, the
magazine looks at trends
in the Chinese publishing
industry, introduces
emerging styles and
topics, book reviews and art
works. It will keep you well
versed in intelligent chat all
year round.
Pathlight
Pathlight is the definitive
magazine for anyone
interested in new Chinese
writing. The magazine is
a collaboration between
People’s Literature
Magazine, one of China’s
oldest literary journals,
and the fabulous online
collective of literary
translators
Paper
Republic. The quarterly magazine
is a beautifully presented selection
of works translated from Chinese
to English, including poetry and
short stories plus short biographical
introductions to different authors. Each edition starts by adopting
a theme (which in 2016 included
‘Growing Up’, ‘Recovery’ and ‘On
the Road’), and then the translators
choose works to turn to English.
Put together by a stellar team with
experience in Chinese
literature, Pathlight introduces
both rising stars and new works
from established writers, all of
which would have been otherwise
inaccessible to non-Chinese
audiences. Those wishing to delve
even deeper can while away hours
exploring Paper Republic’s enormous
online resource of Chinese writers.
Get it: Pick up past issues from
Amazon China
or download issues from
paper-republic.org
– though it’s worth
getting your hands on physical
copies, as they are collectors’ items
you’ll want to refer back to.
Spittoon
An exciting new addition to the
literary scene, Spittoon magazine
launched in Beijing in November
2016, a printed accompaniment to
the meetings held by
an assortment of the
city’s poets and writers
over recent years. The
launch edition features
work from both Chinese
and expat writers,
predominantly in English
with a few accompanied
by Chinese translators.
Highlights in the
inaugural issue include
‘Cockle-Pickers’, a poem
by writer Heys Wolfenden about the
21 Chinese migrant labourers who
drowned in Morecombe Bay in the
UK in 2004, and a bilingual poem
‘Babel’s Shadow’ from Chinese poet
and novelist Xu Yue.
Get it: A snip at 30RMB, you can pick
up the magazine or order it directly
from
The Bookworm in Beijing.
Find out more through their WeChat
(ID:Spittoon).