Growing interest in Jia's works

There has been a surge in the number of English translations of Jia Pingwa's works in recent years, says Carlos Rojas, a professor of Chinese cultural studies at Duke University and the translator of Jia's The Lantern Bearer.

"Jia was the least-translated (into English) contemporary literary master. For years, there was only Turbulence: A Novel, translated by Howard Goldblatt and released in 2003," says Rojas.

He says he is glad to see that more of Jia's works have been translated or are in the process of being translated.

"It's a good chance for more readers globally to get to know Jia," he says.

Ruined City, translated by Goldblatt, was released in January 2016. Rojas' translation of The Lantern Bearer came out in May last year. And Happy Dreams, translated by Nicky Harman, was published in October.

The Earthen Gate translation is set for release by British Valley Press in May. And Old Kiln has a trial translation by Canaan Morse out on Paper Republic.

Meanwhile, Rojas says that Ji Hua and Lao Sheng are being translated, and that the copyrights of the former was sold to British ACA Publishing at the 2017 Frankfurt Book Fair.

As for Shan Ben (The Mountain Stories), its rights were recently sold to ACA at the London Book Fair in April, shortly after its release in the Chinese market.

Zhang Xianming, head of the People's Literature Publishing House, says: "It seems that we are into quicker publishing cycles when it comes to introducing contemporary Chinese literature to the global market. The international publishing business is tracking China very closely."