I am available for literary and commercial translations from Chinese to English.
Please send all inquiries to <ks1932 at georgetown dot edu>.
WORK(S) IN-PROGRESS
- Pema Tseden. A Story Half-Told. In collaboration with Sinoist Books and the estate of Pema Tseden (sample prepared; full draft manuscript expected summer/fall 2026).
- Ma Yi-hang. “What Have the Ladies Forgotten?” Co-translated with Dingru Huang, forthcoming in Taiwan Lit and the Global Sinosphere (Spring 2026).
Syaman Rapongan. Eyes of the Sky. Columbia University Press, 2026.
For purchasing information, see Columbia University Press or Amazon
Syaman Rapongan is a chronicler of his people, the Tao, an Indigenous community who live on Orchid Island near the island of Taiwan. In Eyes of the Sky, he invites readers to learn the ways of this oceanic world—and to learn to see their own worlds anew through a Tao lens.
Employing oral storytelling conventions, Eyes of the Sky opens by recounting the history of the Tao, from their mythic origins to the present day. Its first chapter is narrated by a giant trevally, a fish common to the waters around Orchid Island. It then tells the stories of three generations of a single family—father, son, and grandson—exploring the transformation of Tao society through their encounters with Han-Taiwanese modernity.
Syaman Rapongan paints a vivid picture of his homeland—its mountains and seas, flora and fauna, climate and ecology—as well as local culture and customs. In describing fishing practices, canoe building, and conversations with friends from his village, he illustrates the Tao’s ecological worldview, lived experience, and struggle to preserve their culture. Written in conversational prose with evocative detail, this book is a powerful testament to how Indigenous people and stories persevere.
An excerpt — the entirety of Chapter One — is included in A Taiwanese Ecoliterature Reader, edited by Ian Rowen, Ti-han Chang, and Darryl Sterk, 25-50. New York: Columbia University Press, in collaboration with the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, 2025.
Syaman Rapongan. “The Dorado’s Spirit.” In Isle of the Austronesian: Indigeneity, World-Making and Taiwan, edited by Chang Ti-han and Hsieh Hsin-chin, 77-88. London: Balestier Press and the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, 2025.
For purchasing information, see either Balestier Press or Amazon
Dadelavan Ibau, “Muakai,” in Howard Chiang, ed., A Queer Taiwanese Fiction Reader, 139-169. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press and the National Taiwan Museum of Literature, 2021.
Long Yingzong, “The Town Planted with Papaya Trees,” in Nikky Lin, ed., A Taiwanese Literature Reader, 81-144. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press and the National Museum of Taiwan Literature, 2020.
Li Juan, “The Suddenly Emerging Me,” in David Wang, ed., A New Literary History of Modern China, 900-905. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2017.
Chu T’ien-hsin, “The Silversmith of Fiction: The Passing of Chu Hsi-ning,” in David Wang, ed., A New Literary History of Modern China, 867-873. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2017.