British translator's love affair with Chinese literature continues

[Photo/China Daily]

Nicky Harman is still excited while talking about the Chinese literary works she wants to translate, even after nearly 15 years of translating Chinese writing into English.

The British translator is now on a tour of Europe to promote communication between Chinese authors and their Western counterparts, and Han Dong, an avant-garde Chinese poet and novelist from eastern China's Jiangsu province, is also on that tour.

Harman, who started Chinese language studies in 1968, and once taught translation at the Imperial College of London, says she fell in love with Han's writings when she came to China in 2003.

"There are so many Chinese books I intend to translate, ranging from Han Dong to a young woman from Chengdu called Yan Ge, to Xu Xiaobin, a Beijing writer," says the London-based translator.

In 2013, Harman won the first prize in the Chinese-to-English category at the China International Translation Contest, an annual event co-hosted by the State Council Information Office, the Chinese Writers Association and the China Foreign Languages Publishing Administration to promote translated literary works in China.

Talking about distinct styles of writing, she says Yan's works are very different from those by Xu.

Xu is a middle-aged female writer, whose books are intelligent and romantic, while Yan's style is funny, sharp and filled with local dialogues, Harman says.

Yan's writing confused her at times, which proves that differences in family cultures between China and the West can be a tough thing to understand while translating, she adds.