Strange Beasts of China: A Novel (Yì shòu zhì)

In the fictional Chinese city of Yong’an, an amateur cryptozoologist is commissioned to uncover the stories of its fabled beasts. These creatures live alongside humans in near-inconspicuousness—save their greenish skin, serrated earlobes, & strange birthmarks.

Aided by her elusive former professor & his enigmatic assistant, our narrator sets off to document each beast, & is slowly drawn deeper into a mystery that threatens her very sense of self.
 
Part detective story, part metaphysical enquiry, Strange Beasts of China engages existential questions of identity, humanity, love & morality with whimsy & stylistic verve.

Yan Ge was born in Sichuan, China in 1984. She is a fiction writer in both Chinese & English. She is the author of thirteen books, including six novels. She has received numerous awards, including the prestigious Maodun Literature Prize (Best Young Writer), & was named by People’s Literature magazine as one of twenty future literature masters in China. Her work has been translated into English, French & German, among other languages.

Jeremy Tiang is a Singaporean writer, translator, & playwright. He has translated more than 10 books from Chinese & was recently honoured as the London Book Fair’s inaugural Translator in Residence.

Recent translations include Liu Xinwu's The Wedding Party, which was shortlisted for the National Translation Award, as well as novels by Zhang Yueran, Shuang Xuetao, Lo Yi-Chin, Yan Ge & Yeng Pway Ngon. Their novel State of Emergency won the Singapore Literature Prize in 2018. Earlier this year they were the Princeton University Translator-in-Residence, & served on the jury of the International Booker Prize. Originally from Singapore, they live in Flushing, Queens.