Issues
← Back to all issuesGranta 169: China – Temporarily Out of Stock
Autumn 2024
At a time when China has become a unifying spectre of menace for Western governments, this issue of Granta seeks to bring the country’s literary culture into focus.
Featuring fiction by Yu Hua, Zou Jingzhi, Yan Lianke, Jianan Qian, Shuang Xuetao, Mo Yan, Zhang Yueran, Ban Yu, Yang Zhihan and Wang Zhanhei.
Essays by Xiao Hai and Han Zhang, as well as a conversation between Wu Qi and Granta.
Photography from Feng Li, Haohui Liu and collaborators Li Jie and Zhang Jungang.
And poetry from Huang Fan, Lan Lan, Hu Xudong and Zheng Xiaoqiong.
From this Issue
|No Issue
Speedwell
Zhang Yueran
‘Fiction is a kind of spell, I said, and analysing a story is an exorcism. It loses all its mystery.’
Fiction by Zhang Yueran, translated by Jeremy Tiang.
|No Issue
Hunter
Shuang Xuetao
‘Lu Dong is a fifth-rate actor – that’s by his own ranking system.’
Fiction by Shuang Xuetao, translated by Jeremy Tiang.
|No Issue
White Night
Feng Li
‘For more than twenty years, photographer Feng Li has been documenting the people and backdrops of Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, and one of the fastest growing cities on earth.’
Photography by Feng Li, introduced by Granta.
|No Issue
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Ban Yu
‘It was a special time in Shenyang’s history – everyone was enthusiastic about football, and every company had a football fan club.’
Fiction by Ban Yu, translated by Tony Hao.
|No Issue
Shot in the 1960s, Printed Yesterday
Haohui Liu
‘It is rare to see photos of Daqing from the 1960s that are not part of the official feting of the oil boom.’
Photography by Haoihui Liu, introduced by Granta.
|No Issue
Adrift in the South
Xiao Hai
‘Finally! I thought. Now I get to work in a big factory. I was fifteen and a half years old. I was a child laborer.’
Xiao Hai on coming of age in the factories of Shenzhen, translated by Tony Hao.
|No Issue
Hai Shan Swimming Pool
Yang Zhihan
‘As soon as I turned the corner, I saw her. She was swimming across the blue sea, the only person in the entire swimming pool.’
Fiction by Yang Zhihan, translated by Helen Wang.
|No Issue
Tomorrow I’ll Get Past It
Yu Hua
‘Every time I tried to write more, it turned out to be a fruitless endeavor – I felt like I was trapped in a sealed room with no windows.’
Fiction by Yu Hua, translated by Michael Berry.
|No Issue
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.
|No Issue
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.
|No Issue
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.
