The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories: A Collection of Chinese Science Fiction and Fantasy in Translation from a Visionary Team of Female and Nonbinary Creators

As more speculative short story collections arrive on shelves than ever before, this anthology of 17 Chinese-language stories by nonbinary and female authors shines a new light on the genre. Youths help stars grow while finding their own identities in Xiu Xinyu’s “The Stars We Raised,” translated by Judy Yi Zhou. A story can pay the price of a meal at “The Restaurant at the End of the Universe: Tai-Chi Mashed Taro,” by Anna Wu, translated by Carmen Yiling Yan. The title story by Wang Nuonuo, “The Way Spring Arrives,” translated by The Poppy War author Rebecca F. Kuang, tells of a young man who accompanies a woman from his village on her journey to bring spring to the world; along the way, he learns the cycles of ocean currents, myths, and love. Editors Yu and Wang also include five essays that explore not only the stories’ themes but the art of translating such works.