Amber Sparks
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New Stuff to Smash Into
November 5, 2010 — 7 Comments
If only you could see things from my perspective, painting by Nimit Malavia
New Wigleaf story by Ryder Collins
Annalemma Issue Seven: Endurance
Lydia Davis’s new translation of Madame Bovary
My new story in Barrelhouse online (thanks, Dave!)
(I know, I know. I’m in two of these magazines and another one of these is my stories. But the thing is, all three of those stories are some of my best work. So I really think you should read it. I think you’d like it. And the rest is all good. PANK and Annalemma are always terrific, and from the few stories I’ve read in Annalemma so far and the list of contributors for PANK, I’d say they’re going to be terrific so get them now while you can!)
Shen Congwen’s Letters in A Public Space
March 8, 2010
From Lu Xun's house in Beijing.
This is why I love A Public Space. They’ve been doing some wonderful things with international literature lately, and this is yet another.
Interest in early to mid twentieth century Chinese writers is low here in the West, and with some reason; it’s very difficult to find translations of any but the most well-known writers from this period, like Lu Xun or Lao She. Writers like Shen Congwen, sort of the Asian Faulkner, are virtually unknown here. When I was in Beijing, it was heartbreaking to see how many writers’ works were available at bookstores there, in Chinese, of course.
A Public Space has published translations of Chinese writer Shen Congwen’s letters in its latest issue. I’m hoping that more translations like these, along with articles, books, etc, will engender more Western interest in (and more translations of) Chinese writers both past and present.
If anyone’s interested in learning more about Shen Congwen and other Chinese writers, activists, revolutionaries, and dissidents throughout the twentieth century, a great place to start is Jonathan Spence’s The Gate of Heavenly Peace: The Chinese and Their Revolution 1895-1980.
