Small Blue Planet — Ep 02, China

In this episode, centered on China, our guests are:

Ken Liu, an author and translator of speculative fiction, as well as a lawyer and programmer. His fiction has appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov’s, Analog, Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, and Strange Horizons, among other places. He has won a Nebula, a Hugo, a World Fantasy Award, and a Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Award, and been nominated for the Sturgeon and the Locus Awards. He lives with his family near Boston, Massachusetts.

Chen Qiufan (a.k.a. Stanley Chan), born in Swatow, China. He is a science fiction writer, a columnist and an online advertising strategist. Since 2004, he has published over 30 stories in Science Fiction World, Esquire, Chutzpah and other magazines and had his novella The Abyss of Vision (2006) and novel The Waste Tide (2013) published. He won several awards, Taiwan’s Dragon Fantasy Award, China Galaxy Award, Chinese Nebula Award and a SF & Fantasy Translation Award (Translated by Ken Liu). He had several stories translated into English (mostly by Ken Liu) and Italian, published on Clarkesworld, Interzone, F & SF and other magazines. He now lives in Beijing and works for Google China.

Show Notes

What is the fan scene like in your country (conventions, fanzines, etc.)?

• Magazines: Science Fiction World, Jiuzhou Fantasy, Pathlight (mainstream lit., contains some SF)
• Space Program

What English-speaking writers are popular in your country?

• Robert Sheckley
• Robert J. Sawyer
• Ted Chiang
• Vernor Vinge
• Isaac Asimov
• Arthur C. Clark
• Robert Heinlein
• Paolo Bacigalupi
• Ken Liu

What writers from your country are available in translation into English?

• See Jonathan Clements’ SFE entry on China
• Stan’s “Fish of Lijiang“, “Flower of Shazui” (Interzone), “The Endless Farewell” (later this year in Pathlight).
• Huang Fan Zero
• Liu Cixin Three Body trilogy, “Wandering Earth”, “Taking Care of God” and many others; interview at London book Fair
• Xia Jia “A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight“
• Ma Boyong “The City of Silence” (Part One, Part Two)
• Kai-cheung Dung. Atlas: The Archaeology of an Imaginary City
• Wuxia
• Mo Yan – 2012 Nobel Prize for Literature

What writers from your country would you like to see translated into English?

• Han Song
• Hao Jingfan (her “Invisible Planets,” translated by Ken Liu, will be coming out in Lightspeed later this year).
• Tang Fei (her “Call Girl,” translated by Ken Liu, will be coming out in Apex later this year).
• Cheng Jingbo

Cheryl Morgan is a Hugo award winning writer, editor, publisher and bookseller. She blogs regularly at http://www.cheryl-morgan.com/.

For more information about science fiction from non-English-speaking countries see the Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards, the World SF blog and the Europa SF blog.