Of forests and humans

From a girl who finds a forest of water pipes climbing between the city’s buildings, to a woman ʻcursed’ by a pair of Greek sandals, these short stories show us different sides of Hong Kong. Written by some of Hong Kong’s best women writers, including Sharon Chung, Xi Xi, Hon Lai-Chu, Chan Lai Kuen, Wang Pu, and Jessie Chu, the stories are translated for the first time into English. These stories are impressively varied in both style and content. Each short story is accompanied by a ‘close reading’ which offers an interpretation of the text. The interpretations are grounded in a philological approach and informed by studies on place, while at the same time locating each story in the context of Hong Kong’s culture and history.
‟By combining a translation project with a critical companion to the translated literary texts, Monika Gaenssbauer and Nicholas Olczak offer a useful study tool and a handy reference guide for students and general readers interested in contemporary Hong Kong short fiction.” (Prof. Terry Siu-han Yip, Baptist University of Hong Kong)