Solitary refinements

Long hours, low pay and little in the way of recognition, the life of a literary translator was once as exacting as it was precarious - but all this looks set to change as the industry continues to bloom, Yang Yang reports.

At 7 am, He Yujia, a 32-year-old freelancer from Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan province, gets out of bed. She immediately goes to her study, and sits in her Okamura chair to translate a book for two hours before breakfast, and after that, for another six to 12 hours.

Earlier this year, three of her translations were published: the first volume of The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Path to Power by Robert Heinlein; Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper by Fuchsia Dunlop and Michael Bird's Vincent's Starry Night and Other Stories. She is now working on the second volume of Johnson's biography.