Faber acquires Yan Ge’s debut English language short story collection

Faber is to publish English languge debut short story collection Elsewhere and novel Hotel Destination, by Chinese author Yan Ge.

Publishing director Angus Cargill bought UK and Commonwealth rights from Matt Turner at RCW in an exclusive submission. North American rights were then pre-empted by Rebekah Jett at Scribner. The short story collection is scheduled for publication in spring 2023, with the novel to be confirmed. 

Cargill published Yan Ge’s short story "How I Fell in Love with the well-Documented Life of Alexander Whelan" in 2019’s Being Various: New Irish Short Stories, edited by Lucy Caldwell. Cargill described short story collection Elsewhere  as "unforgettable: made up of wild, exciting, disturbing stories about dispossession and ideas of home and identity. Set between contemporary Ireland and ancient China, Yan effortlessly takes you as the reader wherever she goes, between cultures and genres. Hotel Destination, the novel to follow, promises to be even wilder — a deep dive into the world of tomorrow and where we might be heading."

The author commented: "I have been writing in Chinese for 18 years, and it took me a long time searching to find my voice in a new literary language. The stories in Elsewhere include a polyphony of voices, anti-dualistic propositions and characters whose identities are constantly in flux — this sense of perpetual displacement is what I want to continue to explore and celebrate in my fiction.

"It feels very much like a dream come true to have found a publisher in Faber, the perfect home for Elsewhere and Hotel Destination. The first book I read after moving to Ireland in 2015 was published by Faber and throughout the years, numerous Faber books have inspired and nurtured me. I couldn’t be more excited to be working with Angus Cargill and his wonderful colleagues at Faber to bring my new fiction into the world."

Ge was born in Sichuan, China, in 1984. She is the author of 13 books in Chinese, including five novels, and was named by People’s Literature magazine as one of 20 future literature masters in China. Her work has been translated into 11 languages, most recently The Strange Beasts of China (Tilted Axis Press/Melville House, 2020), by Jeremy Tiang. In 2019 she was on the judging panel of the International Dublin Literary Award and her writing has been published in the New York Times, Irish Times, TLS and the Stinging Fly among others.