We at Read Paper Republic are a collective of literary translators, promoting new Chinese fiction in translation. Between 18th June 2015 and 16th June 2016, we are publishing a complete, free-to-view short story (or essay or poem), every Thursday (that’s #TranslationThurs) for a whole year. As part of Women In Translation Month, we have focused on four hugely talented and very different women writers (all the translators are women too!) for our short stories in August, 2015.

• First up, Regurgitated by Dorothy (Hiu Hung) Tse, translated by Karen Curtis. A disturbingly [sur]real tale about a city that devours its children.
• Then we have Missing by Li Jingrui, translated by Helen Wang. What would you do if your husband went missing for a few months? And then turned up as randomly as he disappeared?
• Third comes A Woman, at Forty by Zhang Ling, translated by Emily Jones, who writes in her introduction: ‘Is there a word that means a sort of gentle, everyday disappointment? The kind that isn’t a crushing bolt from the blue but something that wears you down gradually over time?’
• Then, Sissy Zhong by Yan Ge, translated by Nicky Harman: ‘Yan Ge’s stories of small-town life are full of acute comments on human relationships. She has a wonderful ear for the things that remain unsaid, as well as the way people actually talk to each other.’
• And for the final story in our clutch of five, on Friday 28 August, there’s a story by author and poet Wang Xiaoni, translated by Eleanor Goodman. Yes, it will be one day late, but it’s worth waiting for!

Challenging, weird, funny, characterful, dark, beautiful, poignant, tragic, our stories are all of these and more. Don’t delay: dip a toe in the water, and start reading our short stories now! http://paper-republic.org/pubs/read/ or follow us on Facebook (Paper Republic) or Twitter @PaperRepublic.