Growing interest in Jia's works

There has been a surge in the number of English translations of Jia Pingwa's works in recent years, says Carlos Rojas, a professor of Chinese cultural studies at Duke University and the translator of Jia's The Lantern Bearer.

"Jia was the least-translated (into English) contemporary literary master. For years, there was only Turbulence: A Novel, translated by Howard Goldblatt and released in 2003," says Rojas.

He says he is glad to see that more of Jia's works have been translated or are in the process of being translated.