Attend the Launch of Spittoon’s Newest Project This Sunday (March 9)

      This Sunday (March 9) marks the release of Spittoon Literary Magazine's latest publication, an anthology titled Ten Thousand Miles of Clouds and Moons, in collaboration with Honford Star. The anthology includes works from 16 authors—eight fiction writers, six poets, and two essayists—translated from Chinese into English.

      Ten Thousand Miles of Clouds and Moons seeks to present contemporary Chinese literature to a global audience, offering fiction, poetry, and essays that challenge traditional narratives and showcase the richness of Chinese literary voices. The anthology has been curated by editors Zuo Fei, Xiao Yue Shan, and Simon Shieh, along with a team of translators who are all active members of the Spittoon Literary Arts Collective, which was founded in Beijing in 2015.

      In advance of the launch on Sunday, which will take place at Timekeepers starting at 2:30 PM, we spoke with editors Zuo Fei and Xiao Yue Shan, as well as translator Ana Padilla Fornieles, to learn more about the collection.

      First, Xiao Yue Shan and Zuo Fei, this anthology is co-published by Spittoon Literary Magazine and Honford Star. Can you share the origin of the idea for this anthology and how long it took to compile? Xiao Yue Shan: I first became aware of our publisher, Honford Star, through their 2020 release of Sakinu Ahronglong's Hunter School. It's an impressive book that represents the adventurous and beautiful texts they aim to support and produce. Even from that early work, it was evident that they offered unique perspectives in the literary landscape.

      Recognizing their specialization in East Asian writing, I thought they would be great partners for the work Zuo Fei, Simon Shieh, and I have been doing at Spittoon Literary Magazine, which focuses on introducing contemporary Chinese literature to English-speaking readers. Like us, they are independent, willing to take risks, and interested in a diversity of voices rather than solely focusing on commercial success. This emphasis on diversity is crucial to us, as Chinese literature is often frustratingly reduced to certain sociopolitical stereotypes on the global stage.

      Ten Thousand Miles of Clouds and Moons developed from our shared desire to showcase the variety, experimentation, and boldness present in contemporary Chinese writing while maintaining our editorial independence. Once we felt that an anthology would be the ideal step to bring greater attention to the innovative work of Chinese writers, we contacted Honford Star, and thankfully, they responded positively to our proposal.

      The entire process—from curation and translator recruitment to editing, design, and release—took just over a year, which is an incredibly short timeframe. I’m somewhat amazed that we accomplished it; it feels like a dream.

      The anthology encompasses a variety of genres, including fiction, poetry, and essays. How did you manage to curate such a diverse collection, and what criteria guided your selection of works? Xiao Yue Shan: Anthologies should never claim to be comprehensive or definitive—especially ones focused on a specific country or language. Chinese literature, like literature from any nation, is a cumulative, dynamic, and ever-changing creation of its writers, and can’t simply be defined by a single "culture," which is itself a complex and fluid concept.

      Understanding that no claim of completeness would be appropriate, our main goal in curating was to open a window for readers into the vastness of this literary landscape.

      Consequently, our criteria for selection hinged on whether the work presented a compelling, unique voice; it needed to be striking and assured in its perspective. Each writer achieves these characteristics through their individual methods; thus, it often comes down to personal taste and discernment. We were drawn to the writers who resonated with us, whose work was powerful, vivid, beautiful, and intelligent.

      I can confidently say that the diversity of Chinese literature is assured by the country's vastness, which has produced countless histories, dialects, regions, and aesthetics. Thus, curating this variety was not hard; however, the overall expanse can be overwhelming.

      In terms of our approach, we selected writers rather than specific pieces. This means we familiarized ourselves with each writer's body of work before deciding what to feature in the anthology. We aimed to present readers with something distinctive—bold and illuminating—crafted from the vibrancy of creators engaged in thought and imagination on the page.

      Once the writers were identified, we chose pieces with the anthology’s overall coherence in mind. My intention was for any two works placed alongside each other to spark intriguing conversations, similar to the most captivating dinner party you could envision.

      Zuo Fei: We aimed to find pieces that met two primary criteria: the language should be captivating, potentially “torturing the translators," signifying it should be formally innovative or experimental; and the content should carry cultural references. We believe that what is local can also be global. Ultimately, we sought a combination of both national

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