September 29: “On Reading and Translating Fang Fang’s WUHAN DIARY”

Wednesday September 29, 12 noon – 1:30 pm, via Zoom

Recording on YouTube

Faculty Dialogue

Michael Berry, Asian Languages & Cultures, UCLA.

“On Reading and Translating Fang Fang’s Wuhan Diary

in conversation with Ming-Bao Yue, EALL.

Co-sponsored by the UH Department of EALL.

Wuhan Diary 武汉日记 is a compilation of diary entries and social media posts by well-known Chinese writer Fang Fang, that document 60 days of lockdown in Wuhan, beginning on January 25, 2020, during the COVID-19 epidemic. Fang Fang’s nightly postings gave voice to the fears, frustrations, anger and hope of millions of her fellow citizens, reflecting on the psychological impact of forced isolation, the role of the internet as both community lifeline and source of misinformation, and most tragically, the lives of neighbors and friends taken by the deadly virus. The book was both castigated by internet trolls and showered with literary awards.

Michael Berry, professor of Asian Languages & Cultures at the University of California—Los Angeles and director of its Center for Chinese Studies, started translating Wuhan Diary just a month later, in February, 2020. His translation was published by Harper-Collins as Wuhan Diary: Dispatches from a Quarantined City in June, 2020.

Ming-Bao Yue is associate professor of Chinese Literature at UHM, and director of the UH Center for Chinese Studies.