Into the Maze of Human Nature with Mystery Narratives: Chinese Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Fiction Writers: An International Outlook
I was invited to a showcase of ‘mystery and suspense’ writer in China by the China Writer’s Association recently, as one of the international experts, to hear the authors speak and to give a short talk on my work in curating horror literature. I found the author speeches a very interesting window into their attitudes as writers and their work, and was delighted to see Cai Jun, one of the most contributors to my anthology Sinophagia, with the greatest renown. Here’s the short talk I gave.
Posted in Events and tagged books, Chinese, horror writing, literature
Sinopticon: Japanese edition
I never thought my literary curations would reach beyond the Anglosphere and into other regions of the world. It was a pleasant surprise to be contacted by Hayakawa Publishing in Japan who told me they wanted to publish an edition of my own-originated anthology, Sinopticon: A Celebration of Science Fiction.
Posted in Books and tagged anthology, books, japanese, literature, science fiction, sinopticon
A New Era of Wuxia: the Female Writers
The global popularity of Chinese historical fantasy has brought forward a new era of female writers. How did this revolution start?
Posted in Articles and tagged books, chinese drama, fantasy, female writers, literature, martial arts, novels, SFF, TV, Wuxia, Xianxia
Introduction to Sinophagia
It’s always great to hear how interesting and enlightening people have found the introductions to my anthologies, so I was delighted to have a version of it in Reactor. Here’s a taster:
Posted in Articles and tagged author, editor, horror fiction, introduction, literature, nonfiction, SFF
A Thousand Eyes and One
I had a lot of fun chatting to the lovely Tanya and Nikki for their speculative fiction book club, Wine On an Empty Stomach about Sinophagia. We talked about resonating aspects of The Waking Dream, the the terrifying Death of Nala, and the unique female voice in Immortal Beauty, also discussing translation and the great genre fiction out there, ending with their fun signature finish.
Posted in Events and tagged books, genre, horror, literature, POC, podcast, SFF, women
The Girl Who Stole Life by Zhou Wen
It was immense pleasure working with Sheila Williams and to have my translation featured in Asimov’s Science Fiction, which takes its name from one of my favourite classic Anglophone sci-fi writers, and whose publications I have long admired. This is a story about languages, linguistic, neurolinguistics and translation, but also, about a young woman who wants to break the barriers that life put in front of her.
Posted in Curated & Translated and tagged Chinese, class, genre, languages, linguistics, literature, neurolinguistics, noveltte, Scifi, SFF, social concerns, society
Her Story: Second Skin
A novelette by Dan Shi, a new voice in female Chinese science fiction and one that is boldly outspoken about feminism and gender debates. I was asked to translate this piece by the editors, and after reading it, I felt it was important to do so, especially when the story was so well written. A bold exploration of technology, the female body and autonomy. You can read it here.
Posted in Curated & Translated and tagged autonomy, Chinese, female body, feminism, genre, literature, novelette, science fiction, Scifi, SFF
Chinese Horror Literature in Italy
I couldn’t find a better home for my Chinese horror collection than Italy, and I had the pleasure of being at the MUFANT in Turin, to talk about my experiences as an transcultural author, Chinese science fiction in Europe, Western Gothic and Chinese Gothic, and the unique features of the latter. It was a few weeks after Sinofagia, the Italian edition of my book was published in Italy, and the immense enthusiasm in the audience made everything that it took for the trip to happen worth it. I was also delighted to meet my publishers add editore, and sign some copies of my book in their bookshop.
Posted in Books, Events and tagged add editore, author, books, genre, gothic, horror, Italy, literature, MUFANT, museum, SFF, Sinofagia, translation, Turin
Story Feast 2025: ESEA Futures
On the day of the Far Right rallies in central London on the 13th of September 2025, it felt momentous to be there to stand with my fellow East and Southeast Asian authors, and our diverse audiences at SOAS. It was a day packed with fantastic panels. On the ESEA Futures panel, we discussed how we first got into genre fiction, Western definitions of sci-fi imposed on ESEA literature and how legend and lore sit at an intersection between speculative genres. It was the first time I had spoken about Wuxia storytelling to an Anglophone audience in person, specifically discussing the differences and similarities in its speculative elements with similar fiction in the West.
Posted in Events and tagged Asian, authors, books, diversity, ESEA, festival, fiction, inclusivity, literature, london, POC, representation, SFF, speculative, Wuxia
Brighton Book Festival 2025: Sinophagia
One of my highlights of 2025 was being invited to the Brighton Book Festival, whose motto is “making the marginalised mainstream”, to be part of their first ever event on horror literature, an apt occasion to discuss my anthology Sinophagia, the first curated collection of translated contemporary horror from China. Alongside two wonderful fellow authors, we read extracts from our books, and discussed topics such as female horror fiction, horror literature in relation to the exploration of facets of human nature, horror fiction and the writing of grief, followed by some great questions from a very interested audience, and signing. The venue was packed with an audience that did very much, go in there!
Posted in Events and tagged anthology, books, festival, fiction, horror, literature, SFF, women, writing