An Afternoon of Surreal Chinese Stories: Translators Jianan Qian & Alyssa Asquith in Conversation with Caiwei Chen
An Afternoon of Chinese Surreal Stories
Featuring
Masters of Sleep and Other Stories
by Zhu Yue
Accent Editions warmly invites you to An Afternoon of Chinese Surreal Stories, celebrating the publication of Masters of Sleep and Other Stories by Zhu Yue.
Join Jianan Qian, Alyssa Asquith, and Caiwei Chen for an afternoon of conversation exploring Zhu Yue’s uncanny, witty, and unforgettable fiction. Together, they will discuss the collaborative process of translation, the rich tradition of Chinese surreal literature, and what it means to bring one of China’s most distinctive contemporary voices to English-language readers. The conversation will be followed by a Q&A and book signing.
Originally published in China in 2010, Masters of Sleep takes readers on a mind-bending, wildly imaginative journey where eccentric and magical characters embark on impossible quests, confront paradoxes, travel to distant planets, master esoteric arts, fall in love, and escape death. Through humor, philosophical play, and boundless imagination, Zhu Yue creates stories that feel at once deeply Chinese and strikingly universal.
A gloriously innovative and versatile writer, Zhu Yue playfully interrogates many so-called “Western” ideals and values: What is the value of invention if it has no practical use? How much of ourselves are we willing to sacrifice for wealth and greatness? And to what extent is a person’s physical existence a sufficient expression of their individuality?
Who is Zhu Yue?
Born in Beijing in 1977, Zhu Yue began writing fiction in 2004. Influenced by Ludwig Wittgenstein and Richard Brautigan, he is known for his experimental, surreal style, crafting stories that open onto seemingly infinite worlds and possibilities.
In a literary culture where many established writers belong to state-sponsored Writers’ Associations, Zhu remains a rare independent voice, receiving little institutional recognition despite earning a devoted cult following in China. Trained as a lawyer before becoming an editor, he is also a published philosophy scholar.
To date, he has published five story collections: The Bleary-Eyed Traveler (2006), Masters of Sleep (2010), Chaos of Fiction (2015), Running Wild (2021), and The Sea of Imagination (2024).