Su Tong’s new translated collection offers English-speaking readers a window into one of China’s best-known modern writers
Su Tong’s works are not for the faint-hearted. In the first tale of Missives from the Masses, a newly translated collection of 11 short stories from across the writer’s 40-year career, the protagonist goes into surgery knowing she will die from it. In another, an elderly zookeeper is forced to kill his animals for a biology teacher who helped get his grandchild into school.
Voice of the Masses: Su Tong’s Latest Translated Collection Reviewed is a story from our issue, “Education Nation.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine.
Tan Yunfei is the editorial director of The World of Chinese. She reports on Chinese language, food, traditions, and society. Having grown up in a rural community and mainly lived in the cities since college, she tries to explore and better understand China's evolving rural and urban life with all readers.
