The Contemporary Chinese Literature Anthology: 2017 presents eleven seminal works by leading and emerging Chinese writers, brought together in authoritative English translations. Each story—Cao Wenxuan’s Bat Scent, Shuang Xuetao’s The Aeronaut, Fang Wei’s Tongue Hunter, Zhang Yueran’s Big Qiao, Little Qiao, Xi Yuan’s Explosive Birth, Zheng Peng’s The Missing Daughter, A Yuan’s The Other Land, Hu Xuewen’s Two-Way Street, Pan Ling’s The Elderly, Stealing Voices, Dong Jun’s Vacant Mountain, Jiang Yun’s Cloud Manor by the Water—offers a distinct lens on contemporary Chinese life. From childhood and family relationships to social upheaval and cultural memory, these stories reveal the depth and breadth of experience, while showcasing formal experimentation and narrative innovation.

Together, the eleven works trace the evolving concerns of Chinese literature in the reform era and beyond, highlighting the interplay between tradition and modernity, individual and collective experience, and local and global perspectives. This anthology provides a vital resource for scholars, students, and readers seeking to engage with the richness, diversity, and transformative power of contemporary Chinese storytelling, and underscores the vitality of China’s literary landscape today.

ISBN: 978-1-913891-43-5
Publication date: 1 October  2025
Format: Paperback 234mm x 156mm
Pages: 536 pp