Translated Titles of Interest
There are a number of recently translated titles that are sure to capture the interest of readers here. Here are a few that deserve special mention:
• The Adventures of Ma Shuzhen: An Heroic Woman Takes Revenge in Shanghai
This comic novel, published in translation by Springer Nature Switzerland AG in December 2021, was first published in 1923, and the character Ma Shuzhen appeared on both stage and screen shortly after its publication. The English edition was translated by Paul Bevan and includes an essay by him.
• A History of Taiwan Literature
Published in March 2021, this one is a hefty volume written by Ye Shitao and translated by Christopher Lupke. It includes both the main text of Ye’s work and a wide range of notes, including extensive Japanese language notes. It is a part of the Cambria Literature in Taiwan Series.
• Words as Grain: New and Selected Poems
Lucas Klein’s translation of Duo Duo’s poetry, published in July 2021, has been long listed for the 2022 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. Duo Duo has emerged as an important poet to watch in world literature over the past several years, and Klein’s translation puts forward a good argument for why all the attention Duo Duo has received is so well deserved.
This poetry collection by Daryl Lim Wei Jie is not strictly a book in translation, but it does contain several translations of Bai Juyi’s poetry. I have really enjoyed reading these translations, and I highly recommend Lim’s original poetry too.
• Singa-Pura-Pura: Malay Speculative Fiction from Singapore
This anthology of Malay speculative fiction was edited and translated by Nazry Bahrawi and published in 2021 by Ethos Books. It is an important work in that it brings to the attention of English-language readers an entire body of work that they might never have even thought to look for. On top of that, it’s a lot of fun to read too. I am personally very pleased that Nazry Bahrawi and Ethos Books have done the work to bring this collection to the shelves.
Jeremy Tiang’s translation of Yan Ge’s novel, published in July 2021, is fully deserving of the buzz that has surrounded it, having been listed as a New York Times Editors' Choice and Notable Book of 2021 and among the Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror of 2021 by The Washington Post. Story by story, the book relates various stories of supernatural beasts in the fictional city of Yong’an. This is another book well worth picking up and reading, not only for the stories themselves, but for the skillful translation of them.