English-language publishers are showing more interest in Asian literature, a Books.com official said on Saturday.
Copyright agents and other industry players have been creating translations of Chinese-language books, which is allowing more works from Taiwan to be read by the world, foreign-language section manager Lee Yi-chuan (李依娟) said.
After the English translation of Wu Ming-yi’s (吳明益) The Stolen Bicycle (單車失竊記) was last year long-listed for the Man Booker International Prize, now known as the International Booker Prize, British independent publisher Portobello Books in April released an English version of Wang Ting-kuo’s (王定國) My Enemy’s Cherry Tree (敵人的櫻花), Lee said.
Photo courtesy of Books.com via CNA
The English translation of My Enemy’s Cherry Tree is an example of the success of Books From Taiwan, an initiative launched in 2014 by the Ministry of Culture to introduce Taiwanese books to foreign publishers and readers, she said.
New York Review Books has also published two titles by Qiu Miaojin (邱妙津) in English — Last Words From Montmartre (蒙馬特遺書) in 2014 and Notes of a Crocodile (鱷魚手記) in 2017 — while last year, Columbia University Press translated Chi Pang-yuan’s (齊邦媛) The Great Flowing River: A Memoir of China, From Manchuria to Taiwan (巨流河), she said.
The growing interest in Asian literature by international publishers reflects an increasing interest in global issues, Lee said.
Readers are moving beyond issues that concern themselves to look at the world and understand different ethnicities and cultures, she added.
The Booker Prize Foundation in 2016 began awarding the annual International Booker Prize, and last year, the US’ National Book Foundation created a new category for translated literature.
Influenced by the cultural heritage of their hometowns, authors from not just Taiwan, but also other parts of Asia are presenting the memories, social atmosphere and daily lives of people from an Asian perspective, in their native languages and in English, Lee said.
Asian literature is not limited to authors who were raised in Asia and write in their native languages, but also includes authors of Asian descent living abroad who write in English, she said.
For example, Vietnamese-American poet Ocean Vuong’s novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous has received rave reviews and tells many exciting stories, Lee said.
On the other hand, Chinese exiled writer Ma Jian’s (馬建) China Dream (中國夢) allows readers to witness an “utterly close reality” through fictional characters and events, she said, adding that although the work was originally written in Chinese, it has not been published in China or Hong Kong, and the English translation was released first.
MacLehose Press is meanwhile translating martial arts classics by Jin Yong (金庸) into English, she said, adding that it plans to release one volume each year.
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