The wonder years

Feeley started translating Xi Xi's poetry into English when she was a PhD student at Yale University. At the outset, she was doing it "for fun", enjoying the thrill of translating between cultures. Some years later, her translations came out under the title Not Written Words: Selected Poetry of Xi Xi (2016), published jointly by Boston's Zephyr Press and the Hong Kong-based MCCM Creations. Feeley met Xi Xi only after the book of translations was out. "The fact that Xi Xi trusted me with her words is one of the greatest honors of my professional life, and being able to call her a friend is one of the greatest honors of my personal life," she says.
Such translations have helped put Xi Xi on the global literary map. The digital literary magazine Words Without Borders (WWB) also played a role in giving the writer an international platform. WWB has published two of Xi Xi's short stories, Davin Chan Moves Out, translated by Steve Bradbury; and Apple, translated by Feeley.

"Davin Chan Moves Out is a deadpan, darkly funny portrayal of felines and family discord, and the other depicts an alternate Hong Kong in search of a fairy-tale solution to urban malaise," notes the journal's editorial director, Susan Harris.