Dinner meeting May 25 Sunday Toishan Kitchen - The Art of Chinese-English Translation: Sacrifice as Expansion
- charlebois721
- Jun 1
- 3 min read
Date: Sunday, May 25, 2025
Restaurant: Toishan Kitchen
Location: 306 Burnside Rd W #103, Victoria, BC V8Z 1M1
Time: 6:00 PM – Dinner | 7:00 PM – Presentation
Presentation Topic: The Art of Chinese-English Translation: Sacrifice as Expansion
Presenter: Xiao Yue Shan 小月单
Abstract:
In this talk, she will discuss the necessity, technique, methodology, and approaches in translating literature from Chinese into English, an act which is essentially the bridging of two vastly different—and in many ways oppositional—cultures. Literature is one of the most necessary and generous forms of communication available to us, and the books that make it across linguistic divides do much to broaden our conceptualisation of language’s capacity. However, the process of translating literary writing can sometimes feel impossible or futile, as there is never any absolute equal or mirrored concept when moving across languages. Still, translators themselves will often find illuminating and innovative solutions to create impactful works—many of which speak to our essential experience of reading, understanding, and interpreting. Based in my experience as a writer, editor, and translator, this presentation will elucidate some of the intricacies involved in translation, as well as the sociocultural phenomenon inherent in the art of literary translation.
Biography:
Xiao Yue Shan is a poet, writer, editor, and translator. Born in China and living on Vancouver Island. The collection, then telling be the antidote, won the Tupelo Press Berkshire Prize and was published in 2024. The chapbook, How Often I Have Chosen Love, won the Frontier Poetry Chapbook Prize and was published in 2019. She is one of the editors and translators of Ten Thousand Miles of Clouds and Moons: New Chinese Writing, an anthology published in 2025. She has received the New Millennium Award for Poetry and the Juxtaprose Poetry Prize, and has been shortlisted for the Aesthetica Creative Writing Award, the Artlyst Art to Poetry Award, and the Ambit Poetry Competition. Poems have appeared in The Poetry Review, Kenyon Review, Poetry Magazine, Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Prairie Schooner, and more. Prose works have appeared in Granta, 3:AM Magazine, Cleveland Review of Books, The Shanghai Literary Review, and more. Poem-films have shown in festivals in London, Vienna, New York City, and Athens. She runs the Beijing-based, bilingual literary journal Spittoon Literary Magazine. Her website is shellyshan.com
Restaurant Menu:
1. Lettuce Wraps (Beef)
2. Mandarin Pork Chops
3. Kung Pao Chicken (Spicy)
4. Spicy Green Beans with Minced Beef
5. Braised Tofu with Vegetables
6. Stir Fried Gai Lan with Garlic
7. Eggplant in Spicy Garlic Sauce (spicy)
8. Seafood Chow Mein (Crispy)
9. Salt & Pepper Prawns (Spicy)
10. Mushroom Fried Rice
11. White rice & sesame balls
Please arrive at the restaurant by 5:45 PM. Dinner starts at 6:00 PM. The talk begins at 7:00 PM.
COST: $25 for members and students
$35 for non-members
Annual Membership Fees:
Single: $15
Family: $20 (applies only to those residing in the same home)
Annual Memberships: September 1 – August 31
You may join anytime as there is no proration.
RSVP Contact: Please reserve your seat at the dinner. Payment without reservation or reservation without payment does not guarantee that you will have a seat.
Please note the change to the RSVP contact:
Reserve by contacting Barry Ming at barry.ming@gmail.com or phone 250-888-9963.
Please do not e-transfer your payment to Barry.
E-transfer info. is below.
Please reserve your seat early, as there is often a waitlist.RSVP by Wednesday, May 21, 2025.
Payment Methods:Cash, cheque, or e-transfer.
E-transfer to victoriacanadachinafriendship@gmail.com.
Make cheque out to Victoria Canada-China Friendship Association. Please avoid using abbreviations on cheques.
Contact Barry Ming at 250-888-9963 or barry.ming@gmail.com for pick up of cash or cheque.
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