Growing New Forms of Literature: A Conversation with Tibetan Writer Alai

Alai is a prolific and versatile writer in contemporary China, having published poetry, short fiction, novels, and essays for more than thirty years. His novels Red Poppies, for which he received the Mao Dun Prize in 2000, and The Song of King Gesar have been translated into English by the distinguished translators Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Lin. Identifying as a Tibetan writer who writes in Chinese, Alai's work rests firmly within the Tibetan cultural sphere and yet—through its expressive language—both expands and reaches beyond Chinese by engaging themes salient to the human condition in the contemporary world. This interview took place during Alai's visit to UC Davis for a lecture on Chinese ethnic minority literature and a panel discussion on indigenous poetics with Native American scholars in 2016.