Ken Liu, Writer

Author of The Grace of Kings and The Paper Menagerie

Ken

Read! Singapore

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I’ll be going to Singapore from 9/1 to 9/9 as part of the National Library Board of Singapore’s Read! Singapore initiative to encourage community reading and discussions on a selected story.

I’m incredibly honored that “The Paper Menagerie” has been chosen for this initiative.

You can see a full listing of my appearances in Singapore here. There will be other talks and interviews as well: I’m scheduled pretty tight :)

Although Lisa is from Singapore, I’ve never been there, so this is a very exciting opportunity. I can’t wait to experience the city and meet readers and writers there — some of whom I’ve only known through Twitter and Facebook.

But I will have to miss WorldCon as a result. So let me congratulate all the Hugo nominees and winners in advance. You’re all amazing, and I wish I can be there to cheer you on.

Fan Art

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So, I’ve just gotten my first piece of fan art!

Artist Iryna Lazerka (of the Russian-language magazine Kosmoport) heard me talking about “silkpunk” and came up with the following cool picture. Thank you, Iryna!

Now, to be sure, the novel in my world actually wouldn’t quite look like this. Though the plot and some of the cultural elements are inspired by East Asian traditions, the world Lisa and I imagined doesn’t look like “magical China” at all. The intent is to not model the world closely on any real world culture. The architecture, clothing, etc., would all be so different that most observers would not consider them even vaguely “Asian.” However, if you know a lot about Asian culture and history, bits of the story and the philosophy of the characters would conjure up faint echoes.

Xia Jia Wins an Honorable Mention in SFF Translation Awards

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“A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight,” by my friend Xia Jia, and translated by me, has won an Honorable Mention in the 2013 Science Fiction and Fantasy Translation Awards!

I loved this story, and it’s great to see Xia Jia getting some recognition. I think she’s one of the best contemporary Chinese speculative fiction writers. I’m proud to have had a chance to work with her.

She’s also a skilled translator on her own, having translated my “The Man Who Ended History” into Chinese. I think her translation is superior to my own original in many ways. She’ll also have a story in Neil Clarke’s upcoming Upgraded cyborg anthology. (The story is amazing, and I cried while translating it.)

I also talked about translating Xia Jia’s story for Clarkesworld: “Gathered in Translation”.

Mono no aware in Emoji

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The super talented Oliver Buckram, a regular contributor to F&SF whose stories are funny, delightful, and full of wit, has just made my day by translating “Mono no aware” into Emoji (and you know how I love Emoji translations).

You should also ask him for his Emoji translation of Kij Johnson’s “Spar.”

Readercon

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I’ll be at Readercon this year in Burlington, Massachusetts, on Saturday and Sunday (July 13 and 14).

Programming on Saturday:

  • 11:00 AM The Art of Critique. Jeanne Cavelos, Ellen Datlow, Matthew Kressel (leader), Ken Liu, Eugene Mirabelli, Betsy Mitchell. Criticism is a large part of a writer’s life. What are the elements of a good short story or novel critique? How does one go about critiquing another writer’s work? What are the most effective techniques? What types of things do we look for? Is there such a thing as destructive criticism or are all kinds of critique helpful? How does a writer learn what to listen to from a critique and what to ignore? We will explore these and other questions.

  • 1:00 PM Kaffeeklatsch. I’m scheduled against Maureen F. McHugh, which means I’ll probably be having coffee by myself.

Hope to see some of you there!

The Hugos

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I’m speechless: “Mono no aware” has been nominated for a Hugo in the Short Story category (along with Aliette de Bodard’s “Immersion” and Kij Johnson’s “Mantis Wives” — and Aliette is also nominated for her novella, “On a Red Station, Drifting”).

Thank you, everyone who nominated me. You’ve made me so happy and I’m very grateful.

(Full list of nominees here).

I’m really, really proud to be listed with Aliette and Kij, congrats to them both and good luck!

My heartiest congratulations to all the nominees — many of whom are friends and writers/artists/editors I admire. Good luck to all of you!