China Hugo Translations 2024
This year, (2024), I was proud to see how many Chinese authors were featured in the list of finalists at the Hugo Awards, and even prouder to note how many of them were writers I had selected for Sinopticon back in 2021.
Since many of the nominations came off the back of Sinophone voters from last year’s Worldcon, I was asked by the publishers and China Delegation, to translate one of these works, as well as the official author interviews, into English, for promotion and the encouragement of voting in the Anglophone spheres. At the time, I was already working on several projects, including the last months of a post-grad, with papers and a dissertation to write, however I wanted to support Chinese science fiction, and its aaccessibility around the world, so by superhuman feat, managed to make space for these.
I was proud of the result, feeling only mildly slighted that my credit for the English translation did not appear in the shortlist, and was only added to the summary documents in the voting pack, after having a word with the parties concerned.
The constant consideration of the translator as a nameless labourer in international literature, shows a complete lack of awareness of the craft. Crediting authors, artists and translators for their work, is meant to help ensure representation, guarantee quality and encourage positive recognition across their fields. As more and more people turn to AI to produce dry, bland, and in some cases, completely illegible content and translation, the skills of a culturally savvy translator who understands the literary and cultural landscapes of both the primary source, and the intended audience, becomes even more important. Was my translation the reason for the nomination? No, but it would be a rare Anglophone voter who supported the story if they were unable to read it and enjoy it.
I’ve been very pleased to hear from those Anglophone readers, who’ve told me they really enjoyed Baoshu’s piece, and I’m glad to have played a role in helping the work on its global journey. I’m also delighted to report that my English language version of “Three Tastings of the Delicacy”, will be published in 2025.
In the meantime, here are the interviews I translated, with the nominees Baoshu and Han Song.
Interview with Han Song.
Interview with Baoshu.
Posted in Curated & Translated