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
Ni Kuang: An Orbituary
On July the 3rd 2022, renowned writer Ni Kuang, passed away, aged 87. He was one of the most popular modern classic Sinophone writers.
Posted in Articles, Events and tagged books, Chinese, culture, fiction, Ni Kuang, novel, orbituary, science fiction, Sinophone, Wisely, writer, writing, Wuxia
Half the Galaxy: Female Writers of Chinese Science Fiction
Through a year of quarantines and lockdowns throughout the world, many women are finding that hard won progress in their emancipation has somewhat diminished. Their roles regressed to the main caregiver, or manager of the house, regardless of their other responsibilities. On this year’s International Women’s Day, it’s important to remember the capabilities and achievements women have pushed forward with, both in spite of gender stereotypes and male bias, and in light of freedoms won. I have recently researched China’s net novelists, and was amazed at the creative output of women who were writing whilst also holding down full time jobs, and labouring under the yoke of domestic responsibility. Science fiction is another realm still primarily considered to be the domain of men, where women’s contribution is often overlooked, especially in China.
Posted in Articles and tagged authorship, books, china, Chinese, equality, feminism, fiction, International Women's Day, literature, science fiction, women, writing
The Many Faces of a Chinese Woman in Publishing
Let me tell you a secret.
I lead a double life.
By day, I work at one of the UK’s largest publishing houses, producing illustrated novelty books, helping to develop them from concepts to finished products, negotiating with suppliers and collaborating with sales teams and creative professionals to ensure the books are to spec, within budget, manufactured correctly and delivered on time across the globe.
By night, I am China Woman, delivering talks, articles, books and translations to further the understanding of China, protect Chinese Culture from misrepresentation, fighting Sinophobia and stereotyping wherever I go.
Lately, I am finding that in order to rise up and respond to the challenges posed by the current politics of fear, my two roles are coming into contact and beginning to clash…
Posted in Articles and tagged author, BAME, Chinese, culture, diversity, POC, publishing, representation, translation, writing