If you have read books like ‘The Three-Body Problem’, you will agree that Chinese science fiction is a diverse and quite unique type of sci-fi. Back in 2019, we welcomed Xia Jia to Manchester Literature Festival and someone asked: ‘What makes Chinese science fiction Chinese?’ In her response she explained that contemporary Chinese science fiction writers form a community full of internal differences like their origin, social class, ideology, cultural identity and aesthetics. However, there are still aspects of commonality among them as the stories are written primarily for a Chinese audience. The problems addressed are the problems that this audience can relate to but it is somehow connected in complex ways with the fate of the whole human race.

We are delighted to welcome Regina Kanyu Wang, a bilingual writer from Shanghai, who will talk about how the female identity and international encounters have influenced her own writing. Regina will explore further what makes Chinese science fiction ‘Chinese’ and reflect on her rediscovery of what it means to write science fiction as a Chinese female author. She will also give a reading of her most recent story ‘The Story of Dǎo’.