Yan Lianke, the fantastic chronicle of a Chinese village which became a megalopolis.

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Yan Lianke PicquierIn his latest book, the Chinese writer Yan Lianke chronicled Zhalie, a village of a few homes totally transformed by a couple passionate for power. Fantastic and realistic at the same time.

Yan Lianke is with the Nobel Prize for Literature Mo Yan and Yu Hua, one of the most important contemporary Chinese writers.

Seven of his books have already been translated into French; we remember beautiful novels such as “Lenin’s Kisses” or “The Four … Lire la suite

Read “Paper Republic”.

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Dave Haysom

Dave Haysom

“Paper Republic” as from 2007, is a forum of English translators living in China, Britain and the United States, to exchange news, opinions on Chinese literature and its authors as well as facilitating the contacts and publications between China and the rest of the world.

This is to promote Chinese literature abroad by organizing literary events, by publishing information, reviews and translations to publishers. Databases of “Paper Republic” about writers, translators and translations … Lire la suite

Ha Jin and the double life of a Chinese spy in the United States.

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Ha JinThe Chinese-American novelist Ha Jin is in my opinion a major writer. We have already mentioned “Waiting”, “War Trash”, “A free life” … His latest novel “A map of betrayal”, not yet translated into French, is of comparable quality. Ha Jin tells us the life of the most important Chinese spy in the United States; it is not an espionage novel but rather the story of a spy trapped between two countries, two lives, two … Lire la suite

Murong Xuecun, an interview during the Leeds symposium on Chinese literature.

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Murong Xuecun 4Murong Xuecun is 40 years old, he is one of the best known young Chinese writers; who, like Han Han and Annie Baobei, became famous with creative writing online.

1- “I am a criminal of words”.

Two novels (translated into French by Claude Payen), had tremendous success in China:  “Leave me alone, a novel of Chengdu” in 2006 and “Dancing in the red dust” in 2013. “Chengdu” is available in … Lire la suite

A Yi writes novels about crime, no detective novels…

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a-yiA Yi is less than forty years, he has spent eight years under the uniform of the police but now as a novelist he participates in many festivals outside China and his first novel, “A perfect crime”, translated by Anna Holmwood, has just been published. A French translation will be available in September 2016 with Editions Stock.

Eight years in uniform:

Born in Ruichang, a small village in Jiangxi, he could go to university, but … Lire la suite

Eileen Chang, a Chinese “star” writer.

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Eileen Chang 4In Shanghai, in 1943, a young woman of 23 years old is becoming immensely famous by publishing in a popular magazine, a serie of stylish short stories, sophisticated, tragic, sentimental … Perhaps, at that time, for readers a way out of bombing, thousands of victims and the Japanese occupation.

She is a star by her beauty and natural elegance. The quality, accuracy, sometimes the cruelty of her writing, makes her short stories the finest examples … Lire la suite

Chi Zijian, a Chinese memory of the Jews in Manchuria.

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Chi-ZijianThe life of the Jews in Harbin, Manchuria, during the first half of the 20th century is a little-known episode that revives with talent the Chinese novelist Chi Zijian in “Good night Rose”. Three collections of her short stories had already been translated into French from 1997 to 2004. Two years ago, are published the short stories “All nights in the world” and a few days ago the novel “Good night Rose” . She is … Lire la suite

Zhang Yihe, daughter of a “rightist”, ten years in prison, and still prosecuted…

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zhang-yihe-A new collection of Chinese literature, Ming Books, published by a joint venture between Hachette and the Chinese Phoenix Publishing Group, allows us to discover three “long” short stories,”Madam Liu,” “Madam Yang” and “Madam Zou”, the lives of inmates whose existence was shared by the author, Zhang Yihe, during her ten years of confinement in a farm in Sichuan province.

– Is a “rightist” a citizen?

She was born in 1942 in Chongqing, where her … Lire la suite

In Singapore, food can kill…in crime novels by Ovidia Yu.

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Ovidia Yu (8)Asia is turning to be a real setting for crime novels. Everyone knows Inspector Chen and the Shanghai by Qiu Xiaolong, an excellent novelist. We have recently mentioned good novels in Malaysia with Barbara Ismael and Shamini Flint. We can now enjoy two novels by Ovidia Yu and meet Aunty Lee, a cook in Singapore and especially the Peranakan cuisine, one of the best in the world.

Of Straits Chinese:

This civilization is … Lire la suite

Lu Xun superstar.

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Lu Xun (3)We mentioned in 2010 the two collections of short stories by Lu Xun, translated and commented by Sebastian Veg, “Cries” (1923) and “Wanderings” (1926), which established the literary fame of the writer. The Editions Rue d’Ulm joined these two items and also included “Wild Grass” (1927) in a book, pleasant to read, with quality paper and good typography.

“Wild Grass”, prose poems

The collection includes, in sixty pages, twenty three texts written in Beijing … Lire la suite

Before the film by J.J. Annaud, the controversial book “Wolf Totem”

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Wolf Totem (3)“The Last Wolf”, a film by Jean-Jacques Annaud, just released in France and China after a clever promotional campaign to mark the Chinese New Year. The year of the goat / sheep could not be more appropriate for a movie about wolves.

A major work of the French director, the film only partially reflects the spirit of the book that inspired it, “Wolf Totem” by Jiang Rong, the biggest bestseller in China after the “Little … Lire la suite

Xu Zechen, in Beijing, petty crime and moral sense.

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Xu ZechenXu Zechen is not yet forty years old and is considered one of the most promising writers of his generation. One of his novels “Running through Beijing” (1), has been translated into English and will be published in French in 2016. A rather pleasant book that is easy to read and where we meet in neighborhoods north of Beijing various petty traffickers rather..happy!

1 – Dunhuang, with such a name, he can only … Lire la suite

Zhu Tianwen, the unbridgeable gap between literature and film.

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Chu T'ien-wen (3)Zhu Tianwen is one of the most famous Taiwanese writers, she has just been awarded the Newman prize, a biennial prize by the University of Oklahoma. She is the first female recipient and was in good company with finalists such as Yu Hua, Yan Lianke, Ge Fei. She succeeds Mo Yan and Han Shaogong who were awarded the prize in 2009 and 2011 as well as theTaiwanese poet Yang Mu.

An award for her work … Lire la suite