Penguin China is at the forefront of bringing Chinese
literature in translation to an English speaking public.
They commission 8-10 books per year on Chinese subjects - although not all are originally written in Chinese. You can check out their list by visiting www.penguin.com.cn.
Jo Lusby,
Managing Director at Penguin China, has more on her plate than making books
from China available to an international readership – taking English language
books into China for a start – but I asked her, via e-mail, to expand on this
aspect of her job.
I wondered whether Penguin commissioned books originating in China through agents, or
from authors directly? “Penguin works
with a mixture of agents and authors – China is a largely unagented market,
and so a large number of books come to us through local contacts, but we
increasingly acquire through agents, as they become more active in China and
East Asia.” Penguin does not expect Chinese-language works to
have been translated before they’ll even look at them. Jo explained that her colleagues:
“are out in the market reading Chinese books in the original language that we
think have potential for a wider English language market.”
What about the relationship between Penguin China, and other Penguin
offices? Would books originating in
China, but with international appeal, automatically get accepted by other
Penguin offices worldwide? “Penguin’s international publishing offices operate
independently across the English speaking world, so in the first
instance, we will publish the book into Asia Pacific, and then offer it to our
own colleagues and also to other publishers around the world.”
So: no promises. But which books are most likely to pick up international deals? I asked Jo about Penguin China’s commissioning policy for books to be put
out in translation. What are they looking for when they evaluate whether a book
will sell into international markets? Why do they think international
readers pick up books from China? “We don’t have a policy as such – we look for
works that we feel confident will connect with readers. People pick up a
non-fiction book to learn about a specific subject; while people pick novels
from China in order to gain an insight into the psyche of a culture, above all
else, the reader wants to be entertained, transported, and taken into the world
of the writer.”
Gaining
insight into the psyche of a culture is one thing, but I asked Jo whether she thought Chinese authors might be a little inward looking? Did she think they were engaging with
international issues, or sticking to issues of domestic interest? “A large
proportion of Chinese writers are still primarily focused inward, I would say –
both in terms of writing about Chinese concerns, and also exploring highly
personal questions. There are increasing numbers of young writers coming back
from having spent time studying overseas, mainly in developed countries, and
these experiences are also beginning to feature in new writing. I would say
that most literary writers stay away from contemporary political subjects, and
focus more on the personal aspects of Chinese society.”
Finally,
I asked Jo what she most enjoys about her job, and what most frustrates her? “I
enjoy the breadth of the work – working with Chinese writers, talking with
local publishers, training early and mid-career literary translators etc.
Frustrations creep in around the things you cannot control – once a book is out
in the world and you want the widest possible community of people to read that
work, but it takes a long time and a lot of careful work for a book to reach
its audience – and sometimes very deserving books just do not achieve what you
hope they do.”
