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Updates to Paper Republic

Two big grant deadlines are coming up:

1. The NEA Literature Fellowship Translation Project grant is due January 9 (sorry, we should have said something earlier), and can net you either $12,500 or $25,000, so get online and apply!

2. The American PEN deadline is January 16, and you can also apply online.

Go forth and get funded!

Posted by Eric Abrahamsen, January 2, 9:55a.m.

Interview with the translators of “English" (英格力士 ) by Wang Gang (王刚)

The Transparent China Translator (II)

By Bruce Humes
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Han Han re-posted a anonymous netizen’s post which compiled seven news items from different official media and government websites, within the period of three months, all about one “representative” farmer, Zheng Jichao (郑继超), in a flood disaster zone, as he gave media interviews or was visited by government officials, including China’s President Hu Jintao. This farmer apparently became a staged showcase for all levels of official visits for the state’s propaganda purposes.
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Want insight into how to sell those translations of yours? Attend "Connections through Culture: China-UK Forum on Marketing Literature in Translation" in January.

Speakers/topics: Random House's Roger Brachell, on how to market lit to UK publishers, with a look at case studies such as Haruki Murakami's work; Jo Lusby, revealing how Wolf Totem was handled by Penguin; and Yi Xiao-Qiang, and a spokesperson for China Youth Publishing Group to about how it markets itself in the UK.
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The One Way Street Bookstore is putting on a talk with A Cheng this weekend at its Wanda Plaza location. A Cheng is renowned as a free spirit and a bit of a contrarian; I've run into him a few times, though, and he's usually just seemed crochety and confused. Still, he's a Personality, and the event ought to be interesting.

Posted by Eric Abrahamsen, December 23, 5:34p.m.

This morning was the press conference for the Dangdai literary magazine's fifth annual best novel award. Dangdai, which is run by the People's Literature Publishing House, is trying to turn this prize into a bit of a challenge to the hegemony of the bigger prizes administered by the Writers Association: the editor of Dangdai, Liang Xinlan, specifically touted this prize as the non-governmental answer to the Mao Dun prize.
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You readers and lovers of Chinese novels, may we ask your assistance? We're putting together a few lists of books which have not yet been translated into English, but ought to be: from the inexplicably passed-over classics of modern Chinese literature to last year's sleeper hit. What gold has yet to be claimed, either deep-buried, or lying on the sidewalk where anyone could pick it up? We're also counting books that have been translated, but translated poorly, so yes – Fortress Besieged counts.
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The Chinalyst Best China Blogs contest is open (actually, it's been open for a while) and PR is now in the running! We got a late start, but I'm absolutely confident that with a little publicity we can pull into at least second or third in our category (which is General, as Chinalyst perhaps doesn't consider Art worth as worth its own classification).

Here's the link to our category. Go vote!

Posted by Canaan Morse, December 4, 2:43p.m.

Yan Lianke’s latest novel – a satirical take on the less-than-honourable behaviour of Beida and Tsinghua University professors – aroused a storm of protest from some of them. So I was looking forward to this week’s post-graduate seminar in the Beida Chinese Department, where Elegy and Academe was due to be discussed.

More…

Posted by Nicky Harman, December 4, 5:02a.m.

Most of the YA authors who occupy high rankings on the list have launched their own branded magazines. Guo Jingming edits Top Novel, Sharon edits M-Girl, Girlneya (6) edits a self-titled magazine, and Ming Xiaoxi (11) is attached to Princess. Some observers suggested that Guo landed at the top of the list last year because of revenue from Top Novel and the I5land book series.