Kill Time with Cai Jun & Xueting C. Ni: Chinese Horror in Conversation
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九月适逢东亚及东南亚文化遗产月（ESEA Heritage Month），我们诚挚地邀请你来到现场，加入一场别开生面的ESEA双语文学活动之夜！
这个夜晚，与当代中国悬疑与惊悚文学代表作家之一蔡骏，以及作家、翻译家倪雪婷 Xueting C. Ni相聚，共赴一场跨越中英双语的文学对谈。
这场特别活动将由长期致力于向英语世界介绍中国类型文学的作家、翻译家倪雪婷带领我们，一起走进中国当代悬疑与惊悚文学的重要声音——蔡骏的创作世界，并且与他展开对谈。
活动免费入场，但需提前预订。查看活动详情并预订免费门票，请点击此处。
To view the event details and reserve your free ticket, please click here.
关于活动语言的小提示：本场活动将主要以普通话／中文进行，并全程提供英文口译。问答与交流环节则欢迎大家使用英文或普通话／中文参与。无论你更习惯使用哪一种语言，都欢迎提出问题、分享感受，与我们一同加入这场对话！
从迷雾重重的《荒村》，到如梦似幻的《苏州河》记忆，再到《生死河》中对于生命、死亡与记忆的追问，蔡骏的作品一次次将我们带到熟悉世界的边缘——在那里，日常生活悄然偏移，现实的地基开始松动，而隐藏于人心深处的幽暗与欲望逐渐浮现。
从幽灵般的空间、城市记忆与隐秘身份，到仿佛拥有自身生命、不断颠倒反复来塑造讲述者的故事，本次对谈将探讨蔡骏如何游走于现实与幻想、记忆与虚构、恐惧与欲望之间，模糊彼此的边界。
我们也将进一步思考：这些深植于中国城市、历史与心理经验中的景观与张力，如何跨越语言进入英语世界；而翻译，又如何为当代中国悬疑与惊悚文学打开新的阅读方式、新的理解路径。
主题对谈将配有英文口译，随后设有观众问答及图书签售环节。我们将为到场参与活动的朋友提供10%的购书折扣（寄售书籍、二手书、打折书籍除外）。
活动现场还将特别售卖以下书目：
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The Book of Shanghai —— 收录蔡骏作品《苏州河》的英文译文；
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Sinophagia —— 由本次活动嘉宾倪雪婷编辑并翻译的中国恐怖文学选集，其中收录了由倪雪婷翻译的蔡骏《荒村》的英文译文；
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蔡骏作品《X的故事》简体中文版。
欢迎大家在活动结束后选购图书，并参与现场签售。
特别感谢：本次活动由中国文学海外读者俱乐部、中国作家协会大力支持。
Join Cai Jun, one of China’s foremost writers of suspense & horror, and leading author and translator Xueting C. Ni for a bilingual event!
This special event explores the imagination of one of China’s leading writers of suspense and horror, in conversation with the champion of China’s genre fiction, Xueting C. Ni.
A quick note on language: This event will be held primarily in Mandarin/Chinese, with English interpretation available throughout. The Q&A and discussion will be open to both English and Mandarin/Chinese, so please feel very welcome to ask questions, share your thoughts, or join the conversation in whichever language you are most comfortable with.
From the mysterious village of Huangcun and the dreamlike memories of Suzhou River to the mysteries of life, death and memory in The Child’s Past Life, Cai Jun’s work repeatedly asks what happens when the familiar world begins to shift beneath our feet. This special event explores the imagination of one of China’s leading writers of suspense and horror, joined by leading author and translator Xueting C. Ni.
Join us for this special ESEA Heritage Month celebration of stories, ideas and the worlds they bridge!
Moving across haunted places, urban memory, hidden identities and stories that seem to take on lives of their own, the conversation will consider how Cai Jun blurs the boundaries between reality and fantasy, memory and invention, fear and desire. It will also explore how these distinctly Chinese landscapes and psychological tensions travel into English, and how translation opens new ways of reading contemporary Chinese suspense and horror.
A short talk with English interpretation will be followed by a Q&A and book signing.
This event is kindly supported by the Chinese Literature Readers Club, China Writers Association.
Book Spotlight
A special selection of books will be available to purchase at the event, including
- The Book of Shanghai, featuring Cai Jun’s Suzhou River;
- Sinophagia, edited and translated by Xueting C. Ni, featuring her English translation of Cai Jun’s Huangcun.
- The Story of X (Chinese edition), for readers who want to explore more of Cai Jun’s original work!
About Guest Speakers
Cai Jun, author and screenwriter. Member of the China Writer’s Association National Committee. He has published over thirty novels, including Spring Night, Guardian of the Cemetery and The Longest Night; and sold a total of around 14 million copies. He has been published by major literary journals such as “Harvest”, “People’s Literature” and “Contemporary Bimonthly”; and won multiple awards including the Mao Dun Award for Best New Writer, Liang Yusheng Award for Outstanding Contribution and the Hundred Flowers Literature Award. Translated into over ten languages including French, German and Japanese, many of his works have been adapted for TV, film and stage. Cai Jun has been nominated for Best Short Story at the 9th Lu Xun Literature Awards, and also directed “Night of the Innocent”, the film adaptation of his novel The Story of X, due for release in 2026.
Xueting C. Ni is an author, culture curator and literary translator based in London. A graduate of English Literature from the Queen Mary’s, she has studied Chinese Literature in Beijing and holds an M.A. in Chinese Studies from SOAS. She has written extensively on Chinese cultures and storytelling for a decade and a half, working with major media and organisations to improve understanding of Sinophone heritage and innovations in the arts and entertainment. She is the author of From Kuan Yin to Chairman Mao: An Essential Guide to Chinese Deities (2018) and Chinese Myths (2023). Her curated anthologies in translation include the award-winning Sinopticon: A Celebration of Chinese Science Fiction (2021) and Sinophagia: A Celebration of Chinese Horror (2024) was published. Her new book Mahjong Illustrated: The Sound of Sparrows was published in May 2026. Xueting’s new anthology China +100 will be published in September 2026. She is currently some literary translations and a cultural history of Chinese fantasy literature.