Dylan Levi King

&: Everything about me

I spend a lot of time writing and thinking about Jia Pingwa's 1990s novels, Chu T'ien-wen, and radical politics online (right wing populism and Left Maoism). More generally, I'm interested in contemporary literature, urban politics, the Chinese New Left, fashion, and organized crime.

I translate Chinese literary fiction into English mostly, but I've ended up doing everything from science-fiction to CEO autobiographies.

Please email me.

Some of what I've translated:

• The Colonel and the Eunuch, a translation of Rensheng Haihai《人生海海》by Mai Jia 麦家 (Head of Zeus, 2024).
• "Neighbor," a translation of "Linju"《邻居》by Zhao Song 赵松 for World of Chinese (2022).
• "The Dark Room Problem," a translation of "Heiwu Wenti"《黑屋问题》by Chen Qiufan 陈楸帆 for World of Chinese (2022).
• "Hi-Lee-Bon," a translation of "Hailibeng"《海里蹦》by Zheng Zaihuan 郑在欢 for World of Chinese (2022).
• Vessel, a translation of Pinang《皮囊》by Cai Chongda 蔡崇达 (HarperCollins, 2021).
• Shaanxi Opera, a translation of Qinqiang《秦腔》by Jia Pingwa 贾平凹, for Chinese Literature Today (6:1, 29-37) (excerpt), Ugly Stone (excerpt), and, a translation of the complete novel with Nicky Harman (forthcoming from AmazonCrossing, 2023).
• "Drinking" by Jia Pingwa (ricepaper, 2017).
• Record of Regret, a translation of Houhuilu《后悔录》by Dong Xi 东西 (University of Oklahoma Press, 2017).
• Life without Language, a translation of Meiyou Yuyan de Shenghuo《没有语言的生活》by Dong Xi (Chinese Literature Today, 6:2, 76-90, 2017).
• "The Stylistic Genes and Spiritual Pedigree of Dong Xi’s Fiction," by Hao Liang (Chinese Literature Today, 6:2, 91-94).
• "Reckless Writing Is the Best Writing: An Interview with Dong Xi" (Chinese Literature Today, 6:2, 64-75).
• "Why Don't I Have a Mistress?" by Dong Xi (Chinese Literature Today, 4:2, 28-41).

Some of what I've written (over the past five years or so):

• "Sinopharmacology," The Baffler, June 2024.
• "Writing on the Wall: A Brief History of China’s Guerrilla Ads," World of Chinese, April 2024.
• "A Brief History of Chinese Cybernetics," in Cybernetics for the 21st Century, Vol. 1: Epistemological Reconstruction, February 2024.
• "China’s war on drugs: From incarceration to rehabilitation," The China Project, June 2023.
• "Madame Mao’s Nietzschean Revolution," Palladium, March 2023.
• "Yamagami Tetsuya’s Revenge," Palladium, February 2023.
• "The world according to Lu Xinghua, China’s renegade philosopher," The China Project, January 2023.
• "The Genealogy of Chinese Cybernetics," Palladium, October 2022.
• "Environmentalism in One Country," Palladium, June 2022.
• "The Rouge Street Blues: A New Translation Breathes Life into China’s Rustbelt," World of Chinese, June 2022.
• "The Empire of the Golden Triangle," Palladium, March 2022.
• "The quintessential Chinese rifle prepares for retirement," SupChina, March 2022.
• "The Role of the Author in China," Hopscotch, March 2022.
• "What a skirmish at a Laos potash factory tells us about Chinese activity on the frontier," SupChina, January 2022.
• "Er Housheng, who had his eyes gouged out, dies at 58," SupChina, November 2021.
• "The Second Death of Jiao Yulu ," Palladium, November 2021.
• "China’s war on effeminate men," The Spectator World / The Spectator, September 2021.
• "Japan’s New Aoyama Clan," Palladium, September 2021.
• "The man behind Xi Jinping," The Spectator World / The Spectator, July 2021.
• "Ketamine and the Return of the Party-State," Palladium, June 2021.
• "China's Exit to Year Zero," Palladium, April 2021.
• "What’s Going Wrong with Chinese Literature in Translation?" Radii, October 2020.
• "China’s Dirty Web," SupChina, November 2019.
• "Jia Pingwa's Hometown," Los Angeles Review of Books China Channel, October 2019.
• "Socialist Literature for the Capitalist Era: Empires of Dust by Jiang Zilong," Los Angeles Review of Books China Channel, May 2019.