SCI-FI AND FANTASY: THE MAGIC OF WORLD-BUILDING

Sylvain Neuvel, Zhang Tianyi and Fei Dao 

moderated by Olga Alimova

Sunday, March 18, 2pm | 60 RMB 

Gathering for this session are three leading literary lights from Canada and China who create fantastical arenas readers love to inhabit. Sylvain Neuvel’s Sleeping Giants, the first book in the science fiction trilogy the Themis Files, revolves around a secret project to assemble the ancient body parts of a giant humanoid relic buried throughout the world by aliens. The sequel is Waking Gods and the third book in the trilogy is called Only Human. Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker recently invited Sylvain to be one of three writers who will create all-new Black Mirror stories in book format. Zhang Tianyi has to date published two essay collections and three story collections, and some of her works have been made into movies. Her most recent short story collection is Love for People with Sexual Blindness. Fei Dao, an associate professor in Tsinghua University’s Chinese department, is an acclaimed science-fiction writer and literary critic whose works have been translated into English, Italian, German, Japanese, and other languages. This event will be moderated by Olga Alimova who manages the Beijing Science Fiction Club.

This event will be consecutively translated in English and Chinese.

科幻与奇幻：创世的秘密

此活动现场翻译，中英双语进行。 

Sylvain Neuvel dropped out of high school at age 15. Along the way, he has been a journalist, worked in soil decontamination, sold ice cream in California, and peddled furniture across Canada. He received a Ph.D. in linguistics from the University of Chicago. He taught linguistics in India, and worked as a software engineer in Montreal. He is also a certified translator, though he wishes he were an astronaut. He likes to tinker, dabbles in robotics and is somewhat obsessed with Halloween. He absolutely loves toys; his girlfriend would have him believe that he has too many, so he writes about aliens and giant robots as a blatant excuse to build action figures (for his son, of course). Sleeping Giants, the first book in the science fiction trilogy the Themis Files, revolves around a secret project to assemble the ancient body parts of a giant humanoid relic buried throughout the world by aliens. The sequel, is Waking Gods and the third book in the trilogy is called Only Human. Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker recently invited Sylvain to be one of three writers who will create all-new Black Mirror stories in book format.

Zhang Tianyi has a BA in English and a Master’s in classical literature, and she has won the Hope Cup Chinese Literature Newcomer Award, the Chinese Best Essay Award, and took second prize in the Zhu Ziqing Prize, among other awards. She has to date published two essay collections and three story collections, and some of her works have been made into movies. Her most recent short story collection is Love for People with Sexual Blindness. She loves tulips, autumn rain, crabs, jogging, movies, fairy tales, football, islands and her husband. She indulges in fantasy, and every time she takes off from the page she indulges in adventures to the human heart and to the end of the universe. 

 张天翼，曾用名“纳兰妙殊”，女。英文学士，古典文献学硕士。曾获首届“希望杯”中国文学创作新人奖、2011年度华文最佳散文奖、第二届朱自清文学奖等奖项，已出版两本散文集《世界停在我吻你的时候》《爱是与水和星同行的旅程》，小说集《黑糖匣》《荔荔》《性盲症患者的爱情》，有作品改编为电影。做过影评人、电影记者、编剧……最终选择以写小说为生，现为自由职业者。热爱郁金香、秋雨、螃蟹、跑步、电影、童话、足球、海岛和丈夫。耽于幻想，耽于每一次从纸上出发、前往人类心中和宇宙尽头的冒险。