Books
Too Fond of Poetry:
In The World
As a book in the CITIC “Too Fond of Poetry” series, In The World contains 47 columns I wrote in 2021. It introduces 47 poets from more than 20 countries and their typical works, from Egyptian authors of the very first poem (“Book of the Dead”) in human history, to modern poets such as Langston Hughes and Kaneko Misuzu.
During the writing, I require myself to think like a cosmopolitan, to answer the distant call made by Goethe 200 years ago. He believed that world literature is about looking at national literatures, but through a cosmopolitan and egalitarian perspective. In a world riven by epidemics, politics, war and prejudice, can we truly write as a cosmopolitan? At least I should try.
Two of the articles were censored for the queer identity of the poets involved. I have released them on Douban.
Special thanks to Qu Qun for the beautiful illustrations and wonderful editing.
National Geographic History at a Glance
Invited by the award-winning editor (and my splendid mentor) Wang Xiangping, I accepted the honor of being the translator of this National Geographic best seller with deep gratitude.
The full name of this book is National Geographic History at a Glance: Illustrated Time Lines From Prehistory to the Present Day. This 400-page hardcover explores epic stories of humanity in the world. Contents are broken down into 5 big parts: Politics & Power, People & Society, Culture & Religion, Geography & Environment, and Science & Technology.
Translating this big book was an enjoyment as well as a torture—sometimes I spent a whole day searching for records and reference, in order to work out one single phrase with enough accuracy. Hundreds of maps were included in this book, and some islands on them used to be unknown to Chinese readers. With the instructions from historians and researchers, editors and I together coined names for those lovely places. Wish I could visit them one day.
Special thanks to Prof. Kolleen Guy, Prof. Zach Fredman and historian Chen Haoyue, they solve my silly questions on history and encourage me all the time.
Paris France
Paris France is a memoir written by American Jewish writer Gertrude Stein, published in 1940. In 2019, Yeeyan Publishing House launched a public contest to select a co-translator for the Chinese version of this book, and I won the first place.
Critics comment that this memoir was written in a “stream of consciousness” style, a Stein style. Personally, I view it as a long, melting murmur, with witty intermissions standing by.
There are lots of scenes about wars in this book, and Stein put them in an eccentric way. She wrote about death on the field, then turn to boiled vegetables. Boiling water softened carrots; translating Paris France strengthened my idea on pacifism.
You can get a copy of the Chinese version of Paris France here:
To Be Continued