About the Author

Jia Pingwa is the author of the novels The Shaanxi Opera, winner of the Mao Dun Literature Prize, Happy Dreams, Turbulence, Ruined City, White Nights, The Earthen Gate, The Lantern Bearer, The Mountain Whisperer, and Broken Wings. He is also the author of several short fiction and essay collections. Born in Dihua Village, Danfeng County, Shaanxi Province, Jia graduated from Xi’an’s Northwest University in 1975. He is a member of the China Writers Association Presidium, deputy chair of the Writers Association Shaanxi branch, and chair of Xi’an Federation of Literary and Art Circles.

Nicky Harman is based in the UK and translates fiction, and occasionally nonfiction and poetry, from Chinese. She has won several awards, including the 2020 Special Book Award of China, the Mao Tai Cup People’s Literature Chinese-English translation prize 2015, and the 2013 China International Translation Contest. When not translating, she works for the registered nonprofit Paper Republic, which promotes Chinese literature in translation. She also runs literary events, writes blogs, and gives talks.

Dylan Levi King is a writer and translator based in Tokyo. His most recent translations include Jia Pingwa’s The Shaanxi Opera, with Nicky Harman, and Cai Chongda’s Vessel. King’s writing on contemporary literature, politics, fashion, and crime has appeared in Palladium, the Spectator, SupChina, and Chinese Literature Today. For more information, visit www.dylanleviking.com.