Translator opens a new chapter for Chinese literature

When Milos Zeman gave a speech at Renmin University of China in late 2014, the Czech president received a special gift: a Czech-language edition of The Four Books, a novel by Chinese writer Yan Lianke.

The book, which won the Franz Kafka Prize in 2014, describes events in China during the 1950s and 60s. It took Yan, a professor at Renmin, 20 years to plan and two years to write.

Suzana Li, from the Czech Republic, translated the book, along with works by other Chinese writers, such as Su Tong and Liu Zhenyun.