Ep 59 - More Than One Child with Shen Yang and Nicky Harman

It is a long and painful process to see oneself clearly, as is the process of returning to one’s childhood.

In the fifty ninth episode of The Translated Chinese Fiction Podcast we are talking with someone who is More Than One Child (隐形小孩 / Yǐnxíng Xiǎohái), a woman as friendly as she is fearless: Shen Yang. She’s here on this episode, and so is her translator, friend-of-the-pod, and returnee guest Nicky Harman. The book is forthcoming from the excellent publisher Balestier Press.

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// NEWS ITEMS //

• From July 2nd: PEN Translates awards announced, including two titles from the PRC

• Dylan Levi King tries out movie commentary for Obsession 疯狂的代价 (1988)

• New book from Astra House: Yu Xiuhua’s Moonlight Rests on My Left Palm

• Publisher’s Weekly shares a Spotlight on Six Contemporary Chinese Fiction Writers

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// WORD OF THE DAY //

(葳蕤 - wēi ruí - lush, burgeoning foliage)

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// MENTIONED IN THE EPISODE //

• '琵琶語 Pipa Yu' by 林海 Lin Hai - Shen Yang’s musical pairing

• When Everything Is Green by Julie Christmas & All The World is Green by Tom Waits - Angus’ musical pairings

• The One Child Policy

• The Liar’s Club by Mary Karr

• Our Story: A Memoir of Love and Life in China by Rao Pingru, trans. Nicky Harman

• Leftover in China: The Women Shaping the World's Next Superpower by Roseann Lake

• Robert Winston’s BBC program on memory… sadly it’s not streaming anywhere