LitFest 2025: Bringing Chinese Literature to America with Editor Han Zhang (Riverhead Books) & Translator Jeremy Tiang

Publishers, book clubs, and bookstores alike are abuzz with rave reviews for one of the season’s hottest books: Yueran Zhang’s Women, Seated. The riveting story shines a spotlight on a powerful Chinese family’s fall from grace, detailing a world of luxury, wealth, and around-the-clock service, with secrets hidden in every shadow. Full of drama and intrigue most American audiences are chomping at the bit for, one could almost forget that this bestseller likely wouldn’t have made it to a front-of-store display without the work of editor Han Zhang and translator Jeremy Tiang. 

Women, Seated gives readers a front row seat to the lives of an elite Chinese couple and their trusted nanny, Yu Ling. Slipping in and out of the shadows, meticulous in her care of their only son, Yu Ling has served the family for years and knows all their secrets—and guards a few of her own.

In the pressure-cooker political environment of China, the fates of even the most powerful families can reverse overnight. When the family becomes the subject of a government investigation, their fortunes crumble, and their nanny is left to make a series of life-changing choices. But how far will she go to claim her due?

In conversation with Anderson Tepper, City of Asylum’s curator for World Literature, this program will feature a discussion with Han Zhang and Jeremy Tiang on the translation process and the importance of Chinese literature’s presence—indeed, the presence of translated literature at large—in America. Audiences will also be able to hear directly from author Yueran Zhang, who will join the program virtually to share a portion of the book from her home in China.

You can purchase a copy of Women, Seated, at City of Asylum Bookstore.

About the Artists:

Jeremy Tiang is the translator of over 30 books from Chinese, including Zou Jingzhi’s Ninth Building (International Booker Prize longlist) and novels by Zhang Yueran, Shuang Xuetao, Yan Ge, and Yeng Pway Ngon. His novel State of Emergency won the Singapore Literature Prize and his play Salesman之死 won the Obie Award for Outstanding New Play. Originally from Singapore, he now lives in Flushing, Queens.

Han Zhang is Editor-at-Large of Riverhead Books, with the mission of bringing works from the Chinese language for translation and publication in the United States. Born in China, Zhang earned a master’s degree from Columbia Journalism School and is currently a New York City–based journalist on the editorial staff of The New Yorker. She has written about culture and politics in China and the Chinese diaspora for various publications, including The New Yorker, The Nation, The Guardian Long Read, and the New York Times.

Since winning her first national writing prize at the age of 14, Zhang Yueran has become an influential member of independent writing communities in China and internationally. She was a resident at the International Writing Workshop in Iowa and has published several works in Chinese, including the novella Sister, which was adapted last year into a film called The Unseen Sister. Her most well-known novel, Cocoon, was translated into English and won the Best Asian Novel of the Prix Transfuge in 2019.

About the Moderator:

Anderson Tepper is City of Asylum’s Curator of World Literature. He has been a guest curator of PEN America’s World Voices Festival and is a longstanding member of the international committee of the Brooklyn Book Festival. He writes on books and authors for a variety of publications, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and World Literature Today. Anderson also serves on the City of Asylum Advisory Board.

About Your Visit: 

The in-house restaurant, Cucina Alfabeto, is open for brunch from 9:30 to 2 p.m. and for dinner from 5 to 10 p.m. Please visit OpenTable or call 412-435-1111 to make a reservation.