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New Year’s By the Sea, Spinning Top and Cup
Huang Fan
‘A cup is an open mouth / You kiss each day’
Three poems by Huang Fan, translated by Margaret Ross.
Goodbye, Bridge of the East
Wang Zhanhei
‘To make sure she was looking her best in the photos, Wu Jiayu avoided eating during our dates, and she didn’t order anything for me when we were done.’
A short story by Wang Zhanhei, translated by Dave Haysom.
For Pessoa and My Cows Arrive
Lan Lan
‘I read your love poem, / a failure.’
Two poems by Lan Lan, translated by Diana Shi and George O’Connell.
The Civilian Level
Lie Jie & Zhang Jungang
‘Photographs, they feel, lie in wait for them.’
Photography by Li Jie and Zhang Jungang introduced by Granta.
Birds
Zheng Xiaoqiong
‘in the Huangma Mountains, everything rots readily’
A poem by Zheng Xiaoqiong, translated by Eleanor Goodman.
The Rules of the Game
Wu Qi
‘It seemed perfectly normal for middle-class writers to tell the stories of the underclass. But the presumed creator of literature has been changing.’
Granta interviews Wu Qi.
Song of the Bicycle and the Fence and Greenland
Hu Xudong
‘How reliable did the gods have to be / to make his parents meet on an island / the size of a continent?’
Two poems by Hu Xudong, translated by Margaret Ross.
The Leftie Sickle
Mo Yan
‘When they were working, Old Han held the tongs, Young Han swung the sledgehammer, and Old Third worked the bellows to raise the heat.’
A short story by Mo Yan, translated by Nicky Harman.
Black Pig Hair, White Pig Hair
Yan Lianke
‘Are you here to accept punishment on the mayor’s behalf ? This is a great opportunity. People burn incense for a chance like this.’
A short story by Yan Lianke, translated by Carlos Rojas.
Doing the Work
Emily Berry
‘I loved being a receptionist. What I loved about it was playing the part of being a receptionist.’
Emily Berry on being a temporary office worker.
My Spiritual Evolution
Tao Lin
‘I came to feel that I was hiding here in the physical world, like a child who hides in a computer game to escape a more consequential reality.’
Tao Lin on his spiritual awakening, via psychedelics and the literature of near-death experiences.
Notes on Craft
Sigrid Rausing
‘I think I stayed with the text for as long as I needed to give meaning to my grief, crying not in Johanna’s absence but with her.’
Sigrid Rausing on transcribing, translating and editing Johanna Ekström’s final notebooks.
