Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 02/10/2026you say Bei-Zhing, I say aubergine, courgette, and also mange-tout. 000
Reposted by Dave HaysomAccented Cinema @accentedcinema.bsky.social · 20/08/2026Neil Armstrong never knew one of his greatest legacies live in Chinese public washrooms, where a parody of his famous "one small step" quote is plastered above every urinal, urging men to walk closer to avoid spillage. "One small step forward, one big step for civility". 49730
Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 17/08/2026see also 海子 Hai Zi (translated by Ye Chun): This Thoreau’s got brains There is nothing else in his hands He grabs a stick and the stick hits me hits me hard the way spring hits me dialogue.earth/en/nature/83...dialogue.earthHermits and butterflies: the resurgence of nature writing in ChinaTranslator and editor Dave Haysom traces the revival of the genre, from poet recluses of the past to a darker shade of dystopia that colours writing today 000
Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 17/08/2026highly recommend the essay “Thoreau and I” by 苇岸 Wei An (translated for Pathlight by Eleanor Goodman) dialogue.earth/en/nature/98...dialogue.earthThoreau and IAn essay from the late poet and environmentalist Wei An on a connection with the 19th Century writer spanning epochs and cultures 000
Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 17/08/2026“For millions of Chinese readers, Walden is no longer simply a nineteenth-century American book about going to the woods. It has become a twenty-first-century survival strategy” —Julia Du lithub.com/why-thoreau-...lithub.comWhy Thoreau and Walden Resonate With Chinese YouthWhen I translated Walden in 2012, I was not a Thoreau scholar. I was an immigrant chasing the American dream: two kids, two cars, two houses, a long commute to a corporate job. Translating Walden b… 000
Reposted by Dave HaysomChina Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 23/06/2026Writers tend to bristle at the adage, “Life is stranger than fiction.” In this latest “What China’s Reading” column, we share five Chinese-language titles that find a deeper truth through art. Read Na Zhong's latest column on Chinese-language reads: chinabooksreview.com/2026/06/23/w... 001
Reposted by Dave HaysomTony Hao @tonyhao.bsky.social · 07/05/2026My translation of ADRIFT IN THE SOUTH, the debut memoir of Chinese worker-poet Xiao Hai 小海, out with Granta Magazine Editions today. A landmark work of the migrant worker literature movement, it showcases one of China’s liveliest emerging voices. #XiaoHai #chineseliterature #translatedliterature 2149
Reposted by Dave HaysomMike Forsythe 傅才德 @pekingmikenyt.bsky.social · 12/04/2026China’s Most Famous Modern Writer: From Fiery Rebel to Cute Communist Mascot - by Andy Higgins, who just finished a short stint in China after a long absence. Now he’s back in Eastern Europe, writing about Orban. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/11/w...nytimes.comChina’s Most Famous Modern Writer: From Fiery Rebel to Cute Communist Mascot 043
Reposted by Dave HaysomLondon Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 22/02/2026‘These investigations didn’t answer my key question, which wasn’t how but why. Isn’t writing itself the only meaningful, fulfilling – however hard-going – part of being a writer?’ Yan Ge on the Chinese plagiarism scandal exposed on RedNote, from the blog. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/fe...lrb.co.ukYan Ge | It cannot read the human heartA friend in China messaged me on WeChat. ‘What are your thoughts on the plagiarism scandal?’‘What scandal?’ I... 0112
Reposted by Dave HaysomChina Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 30/01/2026Read Tabitha Speelman's essay on China's independent bookstore scene: chinabooksreview.com/2026/01/29/b... 022
Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 22/12/2025“no cheese latte for me thanks” you say, but wait until you learn how many different types of cheese you can find in one cup of Starbucks coffee. 000
Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 06/12/2025not a surprise to observers paying attention to the enduring popularity of Shakira Gazelle. 000
Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 27/08/2025big news! could not be more excited to be translating《小花旦》by Wang Zhanhei 王占黑. www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/... 141
Reposted by Dave HaysomTammy Lai-Ming Ho @myetcetera.bsky.social · 27/08/2025I've written on the curious arrival of the Monkey King within its Southern gothic landscape in SINNERS, Ryan Coogler’s audacious and genre-defying box office success, in the latest issue or @worldlittoday.bsky.social, devoted to the art of review. worldliteraturetoday.org/2025/septemb... 。。。。。 11912
Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 08/08/2025hey, I see you’re reading a book there huh? some interesting words there, in your book? I once read a book too, actually, would you like me to tell you about it? 020
Reposted by Dave HaysomChina Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 29/07/2025After a plagiarism scandal upended China’s literati, a spate of bestselling books published by amateur writers has changed what Chinese readers consider as literature. Read Na Zhong's latest What China's Reading column: chinabooksreview.com/2025/07/29/w... 032
Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 18/07/2025yes the sights were lovely but what I shall remember of Paris always is the infinite variety of instrumental Hotline Bling covers. accordion Hotline Bling, jazz piano Hotline Bling, steel drum Hotline Bling. the Eiffel Tower lurks around every street corner and so too does panpipe Hotline Bling. 010
Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 09/06/2025Beijing audience reaction to Mission Impossible – Final Reckoning: at least three boyfriends continually whispering a plot explanation to girlfriends; sporadic swearing and fist shaking when Beijing threatened with nuke attack; general warmth and enthusiasm for Tapeesa the dog sledding lady. 010
Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 04/05/2025there were only 8 other people in my Beijing IMAX holiday weekend screening of Thunderbolts, but by the end of the film there were 8 enthusiastic fans of Red Guardian. 000
Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 04/05/2025so far season 2 of Andor is nicely validating my decision to teach it to my English students alongside Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent (a novel about a government deliberately instigating an act of terrorism to justify the suppression of revolutionaries). 020
Reposted by Dave HaysomJeremy Tiang @jeremytiang.bsky.social · 19/03/2025my translation of The Hedgehog by Zheng Zhi 郑执 is in The Paris Review www.theparisreview.org/fiction/8386...theparisreview.orgThe Hedgehog by Zheng Zhi, translated by Jeremy TiangI found out only later that when my ma called Ensign Wang a lunatic, she’d meant it literally—he really was a mental patient. 14212
Reposted by Dave HaysomHelen Wang @helenwanglondon.bsky.social · 07/02/2025The Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing - welcome to Bluesky! @writingchinese.bsky.social -writingchinese.bsky.socialThe Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing (@writingchinese.bsky.social)A centre for contemporary Chinese writing at the University of Leeds. For authors, translators, publishers, everyone. https://writingchinese.leeds.ac.uk/ 141
Reposted by Dave HaysomTammy Lai-Ming Ho @myetcetera.bsky.social · 29/01/2025[𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗘𝗫𝗖𝗟𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗩𝗘—𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗔𝗬] Winifred Dongyi Wang writes on Lin Zhao and her 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑘 & 𝑇𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑙 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑡: "Lin Zhao is an enigma. There are few adjectives in the English language that can adequately encapsulate this emerging supernova of contemporary Sinophone literature." chajournal.blog/2025/01/29/l...chajournal.blog[EXCLUSIVE] “Rewriting the Southeast Chinese Frontier with Tenderness: Lin Zhao’s 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑘 and 𝑇𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑙 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑡” by Winifred Dongyi Wang📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ▚ Lin Zhao, Flowing Creek 流溪 (originally published in Mandarin Chinese), Shanghai Sanlian Publishing Company, 2020, 19… 011
Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 25/01/2025Universal executives: sorry Chris, there just isn’t room in Oppenheimer for any more scenes of the wife waiting around for her husband to come home. Christopher Nolan: *shakes fist, clutching Penguin Classics edition of the Odyssey* just… you… wait… 000
Reposted by Dave HaysomJeff Wasserstrom @jwassers.bsky.social · 23/12/2024My thoughts on 5 2024 China books with a lot to offer (well 4 books & a special issue of Granta), fivebooks.com/best-books/t...fivebooks.comThe Best China Books of 2024From an issue of a literary magazine that brings together contemporary writing from across mainland China to books focusing on different periods of its 20th-century history, it's been another good yea... 0185
Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 22/11/2024yeah okay ORBITAL’s pretty good but it’s not like 24 HOURS IN SPACE good 010
Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 19/11/2024OUT NOW: The Granta China Issue – what a great line up! My favourite thing about this 王占黑 Wang Zhanhei story is the absences: all these sneakily significant gaps and elisions that you barely notice on a first read. Available for purchase now: granta.com/products/gra...granta.comGranta 169: China | GrantaAt a time when China has become a unifying spectre of menace for Western governments,... 0103
Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 19/11/2024COMING SOON: Ten Thousand Miles of Clouds and Moons These vibrant poems by 杜绿绿 Du Lulu make me picture silhouettes dissolving into the texture behind them, of figures absorbing and processing and projecting themselves onto their surroundings. Available for pre-order: honfordstar.com/products/ten...honfordstar.comTen Thousand Miles of Clouds and Moons: New Chinese Writing (Pre-orderTen Thousand Miles of Clouds and Moons gathers sixteen phenomenal writers of the Chinese language in their English debut: eight fiction writers, six poets, and two essayists. Amongst these dazzling te... 010