Four foreigners' tales of publishing in China
- By Kristen McAvoy
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China.org.cn, June 10, 2012
At 3 p.m. on June 5, the Foreign Language Press Book Club hosted an event where writers and photographers, Bobby Brill from the United States, Olga Stefatou from Greece, Ruben Lundgren from the Netherlands, and David Ferguson from Scotland, answered questions about the book series "Cities of China".
"Cities of China" was published by the Foreign Language Press and includes 10 books (all in English and Chinese) which portray the unique customs, economy and spirit of different cities in China. The vivid images and history of Nantong, Wuxi, Guangdon, Qingdao, the Qinhuai River, Kunshan, Changzhou and Suzhou come alive with each turn of the page.
Commenting on the series, Nicole Ouyang, Foreign Affairs Manager/Translator/Editor of Foreign Language Press said: "This series is an outcome of the cooperation between Foreign Languages Press and local governments. We are sending foreign writers and photographers to each city to interview people, visit places and come back to finish the manuscript; and local city governments are responsible for arranging the details of the trips."
Ouyang added that there have been significant reforms at many Chinese publishing houses since 2006, including the hiring of foreign writers and photographers and a willingness to embrace new and innovative story ideas. According to Ouyang, the changes have put greater focus and responsibility on the foreign talents. She said that publishers now look to writers and photographers for inspiration.
So what does this mean for foreign writers and photographers?
Overall, Brill, Stefatou, Ferguson and Lundgren had positive things to say about working with Chinese publishing houses. However, they also highlighted a number of unique challenges which face foreign talents.
"Experience wise, it is very, very different working with Chinese publishers," said Brill. "The difference is that the publisher is not necessarily your client, the local government is your client; so you have to work with your idea, the publisher's idea and the local government's idea, which may not line up, making the project very challenging."
Ferguson, however, said that foreign writers have a high degree of freedom in terms of what they can write for Chinese publishers. "I have had no real interference with what I wanted to do and what I wanted to write about," he said. "That might come as a surprise, but it's true in comparison to working with a Western publisher where you would have an editor that has some very clear ideas on what you should be writing or what your book should look like."
All four agreed that the process of interviewing subjects was among the most challenging of tasks which faced them during the making of the series. Many citizens were nervous about the prospect of being interviewed and photographed by foreigners, despite the fact that the local governments gave the Western writers and photographers full access to the cities and their inhabitants.
"Oftentimes, we would have to insist that people speak with us," said Stefatou.
Brill, Stefatou, Ferguson and Lundgren also commented that Chinese hospitality also made interviewing more challenging due to the fact that many Chinese wanted to share a meal and baijui with them before being interviewed.
"When you are doing multiple interviews a day, drinking and eating became quite a chore," said Brill.
However, the ultimate challenge which faced the series was the fact that there is not a lot of documented history on many of these small rural cities. Brill commented that it was, therefore, the responsibility of the writer and the photographer to do their own research in order to find lost history and to find aspects of the town that other people would find interesting.
Hence, the writers and photographers did not always know what they were looking for until they arrived. This aspect, although potentially trying, also led to some unexpected and wonderful discoveries which might not have otherwise been made.
"We visited a tractor factory which was built in the fifties, and it was an amazing place," said Lundgren. "I could never have come up with the idea to visit because I didn't know about it."
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)