Tag: Nicky Harman

BookBlast® 10×10 Tour | Thurs 1 Nov., Waterstones, Liverpool | Roh-Suan Tung, Yan Ge, Nicky Harman

The ninth talk of the BookBlast® 10×10 tour, a nationwide celebration of independent publishing, @waterstonesl1 College Lane, Liverpool, L1 3DL features Balestier Press, founded in 2014: “Much diversity from Asian translated literature remains to be explored.” Roh-Suan Tung publishes award-winning literature in translation, young-adult fiction, and picture books.

bookblast roh-suan tung balestier pressOn Thurs. 1 November at 6.30 p.m., Roh-Suan Tung @BalestierPress will chair the discussion with author @YanGeMay and her translator @NickyHarman_cn @waterstonesl1 The talk has as its theme, #MeToo Moments: men misbehaving in China.
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“Writing is a reflection of real human life and what we care about,” Roh-Suan Tung.

“Chilli bean paste was big business, had been for Gran’s family for four or five generations. Sichuan peppers, on the other hand, were the sort of thing any small trader could sell. All they needed was a place to set up their stall. But, humble though the trade was, the Sichuan pepper was as essential as chilli bean paste at all Pingle Town dinner tables [. . .] Dad had kicked around the chilli bean paste factory for over twenty years, learning the ins and outs of his trade under the tutelage of his shifu, Chen, and if it had taught him one thing, it was that people were born to sweat. You ate chilli bean paste, and Sichuan peppers, and ma-la spicy hotpot, to work up a good sweat, and screwing a girl made you sweat even more. The more you sweated, the happier you felt, Dad reckoned. He remembered the fiery heat that the sweat-soaked bed-sheets in Baby Girl’s house gave off.”

Read a review of Yan Ge’s novel, The Chilli Bean Paste Clan HERE

yan ge bookblast diary interviewAuthor interview HERE Meet Yan Ge in person on Thurs 1 Nov.

Q: What are you working on now?
A: “A novel I’ve been working on for four years. It is set in a fictional town, Pingle, in the southwest of China. It’s the third book of my trilogy of Pingle Town. The Chilli Bean Paste Clan is the second one. The first one is a coming of age novel called May Queen,”

bookblast nicky harmanTranslator interview HERE Meet Nicky in person on Thurs 1 Nov.

Q: Why do you translate?
A: “I love the language, and writing. When things go well, I feel I’m opening a window on another world for readers and that’s a great privilege,” Nicky Harman.

 

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Review | Crystal Wedding, Xu Xiaobin | Book of the Week

“On their first date, in the park, they got down to some serious petting. He gave Tianyi a blow-by-blow account, making her blush with his frankness: ‘She undid her bra so I could feel her breasts,” he stammered. ‘Then she pushed my hand down there . . .’
‘Is she pretty?”
‘No, but she’s curvy, and she’s really hot.’
‘So she fits the bill?’ Tianyi asked with a touch of sarcasm.
‘Yes, she does,’ Jin went pink. ‘So I need your help, I’ve been wanting to do an experiment, to watch a girl’s reaction to having sex . . .’
‘That’s not fair, if she really loves you . . .’
‘But I might fall in love with her during the experiment. So there’s nothing unfair about it . . .’
‘It’s crazy.’”

It’s not every day you come across a novel in which a mainland Chinese author writes openly about women, sex and corruption − affording the reader a voyeuristic glimpse into intimacy and relationships, Chinese style.

Continue reading Review | Crystal Wedding, Xu Xiaobin | Book of the Week

Interview | Roh-Suan Tung, Balestier Press | Indie Publisher of the Week

Are (were) your parents great readers? Tell us a bit about yourself.
I was born and grew up in Taiwan. My parents both love books and I remember lots of books surrounding me as a kid.

Did you want to work in the publishing industry from the start?
Yes and no. I learned how to be an editor early during the school years. I was then involved in the student movements for media freedom during around 30 years ago in Taiwan. My formal career started as a researcher and a professor in physics, in UK, USA and China. During the time, I was acting as editors for international science journals for some years. I always feel there is a need of literature and humanity publication, translating from all the languages in Asia, and I started to devote myself to Balestier Press.

Has your vision from when you started Balestier Press in 2014 changed?
The vision that there should be more books in translation from Asia remains. Since we started Balestier Press, we have received numerous encouragements and support from the writers and translators around the world.

Continue reading Interview | Roh-Suan Tung, Balestier Press | Indie Publisher of the Week

Interview | Nicky Harman | Translator of the Week

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I’m based in Weymouth and in London. I go to China every year on visits. I speak and read Spanish, French and Italian but I only translate from Chinese. I have two kids, grown-up now, and two grandchildren. I keep reasonably fit, cycle, walk, swim and do yoga –– but all in moderation! And I love food.

When you were growing up, what books had an impact on you?
When I was very small, my father used to read us Grimms Household Tales every day after tea, and I loved that. Rapunzel (‘let down your hair’) was a particular favourite. This only happened in winter . . . my parents were farmers, and in summer, work went on till late in the evening. In my early teens, my father tried to wean me off children’s books and introduce me to the classics, and as a result, I went on strike and didn’t read any more fiction until I was in my thirties. After that, and somewhat belatedly, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens became big favourites. I wasn’t an entirely undutiful daughter: I carried around my father’s present of a leatherette-bound box set of Austen for twenty years without ever opening them, and then had to retrieve a couple of the volumes from houses in places like Sheffield and Wandsworth, where I had somehow mislaid them years before. I never did make headway with Trollope or The Brothers Karamazov, which my father kept pressing on me. Continue reading Interview | Nicky Harman | Translator of the Week

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