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Dave Haysom

@spittingdog.net
70 followers 103 following 37 posts

Translator of 李洱 Li Er’s *Cherries on a Pomegranate Tree* and 文珍 Wen Zhen’s *Nothing but the Now* (2023). Managing editor of *Pathlight* (2014-2018). Occasional critic and regular teacher of literature. Based in Beijing since 2007.

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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 02/10/2026
you say Bei-Zhing, I say aubergine, courgette, and also mange-tout.
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 19/09/2026
this is a metaphor for something
poster for Dadong x Subway sandwich
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Accented Cinema @accentedcinema.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
Neil 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".
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 17/08/2026
see 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.earth
Hermits and butterflies: the resurgence of nature writing in China
Translator 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
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 17/08/2026
highly recommend the essay “Thoreau and I” by 苇岸 Wei An (translated for Pathlight by Eleanor Goodman) dialogue.earth/en/nature/98...
dialogue.earth
Thoreau and I
An essay from the late poet and environmentalist Wei An on a connection with the 19th Century writer spanning epochs and cultures
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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.com
Why Thoreau and Walden Resonate With Chinese Youth
When 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…
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 14/07/2026
coffee beans and books from Hungary and Croatia ☕️
*Journey by Moonlight* by Antal Szerb and *The Walnut Mansion* by Miljenko Jergović; coffee beans from Mantra, Racer and Goat Story
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 27/06/2026
cinemas in mainland China couldn’t quite decide what language they were supposed to advertise
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 23/06/2026
Writers 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...
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 20/06/2026
is this a pun tho
PAW HUB, a shop for all (all?) your canine needs
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 30/05/2026
(inspired by this week’s Concrete Avalanche newsletter) jakenewby.substack.com/p/a-dakou-cu...
jakenewby.substack.com
A dakou (cut-out) CD mix + Daoist metal
+ DJ Gurl's creator tackles prejudice on a remarkable new album + "toilet jazz"
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 30/05/2026
let’s go to Guizhou
novel 月球 by author 郭爽title card of movie Kaili Bluessong 浪子 by 列 playing on an MP3 player
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Tony Hao @tonyhao.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
My 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
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 16/05/2026
The Mandalorian and… Gugu?
Chinese movie poster for the Mandalorian and Grogu
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Mike Forsythe 傅才德 @pekingmikenyt.bsky.social · 12/04/2026
China’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.com
China’s Most Famous Modern Writer: From Fiery Rebel to Cute Communist Mascot
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London 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.uk
Yan Ge | It cannot read the human heart
A friend in China messaged me on WeChat. ‘What are your thoughts on the plagiarism scandal?’‘What scandal?’ I...
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 30/01/2026
Read Tabitha Speelman's essay on China's independent bookstore scene: chinabooksreview.com/2026/01/29/b...
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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.
screenshot from Starbucks China app showing delicious cheese latte with three (THREE) kinds of cheese.
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 17/12/2025
Knives Out is good but not as good as Jonathan Creek.
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 06/12/2025
not a surprise to observers paying attention to the enduring popularity of Shakira Gazelle.
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 05/12/2025
石一枫 Shi Yifeng’s 2023 novel 逍遥仙儿 is all about wealthy Beijing parents trying to get around this ban by setting up their own private school (much like Mark Zuckerberg!)
book cover of 逍遥仙儿, a novel by 石一枫 Shi Yifeng.
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 27/08/2025
big news! could not be more excited to be translating《小花旦》by Wang Zhanhei 王占黑. www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/...
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Tammy Lai-Ming Ho @myetcetera.bsky.social · 27/08/2025
I'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... 。。。。。
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 08/08/2025
hey, 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?
fly bro tries to interrupt reading
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China Books Review @chinabooksreview.com · 29/07/2025
After 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...
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 29/07/2025
summer holiday book haul 2025
Us by Zaffar Kunial
Delicious Hunger by Hai Fan
Fair by Jen Calleja
What the Earth Seemed to Say by Marie Howe
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 18/07/2025
yes 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.
somewhere out there a Parisian is listening to an acoustic guitar cover of Hotline Bling while he eats his morning croque monsieur.
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 09/06/2025
Beijing 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.
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 04/05/2025
there 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.
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 04/05/2025
so 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).
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 27/04/2025
the deepseek seal of approval
poster advertising a restaurant in Hangzhou as recommended by Deepseek
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 29/03/2025
that sweet sweet Shijiazhuang marathon swag
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Jeremy Tiang @jeremytiang.bsky.social · 19/03/2025
my translation of The Hedgehog by Zheng Zhi 郑执 is in The Paris Review www.theparisreview.org/fiction/8386...
theparisreview.org
The Hedgehog by Zheng Zhi, translated by Jeremy Tiang
I found out only later that when my ma called Ensign Wang a lunatic, she’d meant it literally—he really was a mental patient.
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 08/03/2025
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Helen Wang @helenwanglondon.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
The Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing - welcome to Bluesky! @writingchinese.bsky.social -
writingchinese.bsky.social
The 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/
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Tammy 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…
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 25/01/2025
Universal 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…
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Jeff Wasserstrom @jwassers.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
My 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.com
The Best China Books of 2024
From 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...
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 08/12/2024
Sunday afternoon in 798, Beijing.
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 08/12/2024
mad as a
frogs in a box
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 02/12/2024
Unwanted Crap in Race Pack: 6/10 (reasonably restrained; a sheaf of advertising and some small samples of – perfume, maybe? or skincare product?; no alcohol)
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 02/12/2024
Convenience of Egress: 3/10 (took more than half an hour to get through the many many queues and then crowds at the stadium exit)
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 02/12/2024
Medal Design: 5/10
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 02/12/2024
Route: 6/10 (nice start on the Bund; last 10K was a bleak there-and-back)
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 02/12/2024
Shanghai Marathon 2024 – ALL-IMPORTANT RATINGS!
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 22/11/2024
yeah okay ORBITAL’s pretty good but it’s not like 24 HOURS IN SPACE good
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 19/11/2024
the books I am teaching this semester:
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 19/11/2024
OUT 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.com
Granta 169: China | Granta
At a time when China has become a unifying spectre of menace for Western governments,...
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Dave Haysom @spittingdog.net · 19/11/2024
COMING 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.com
Ten Thousand Miles of Clouds and Moons: New Chinese Writing (Pre-order
Ten 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...
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