The Shanghai Literary Review: Summer 2025 Issue 9 Preview
A first look at Issue 9, featuring new work in poetry, fiction, criticism, and translation from across the globe.
Dear friends,
With summer finally upon us, we’re excited to announce the forthcoming release of The Shanghai Literary Review Issue 9, which is now available for pre-order.
This issue has been months in the making, shaped by ongoing conversations about visual memory, transnational aesthetics, and the texture of language across borders. We’re proud to feature an extraordinary range of contributors, including some new and returning voices, established names and emergent ones—each helping us to deepen our magazine’s original vision of being a space for dialogue around literary and artistic works that enrich our understanding of Asia’s diverse voices and narratives.
Cover Reveal: Xiyadie’s Train (1985–1986)
We’re honored to feature Xiyadie’s Train (1985–1986) on the cover of Issue 9. A pioneer of queer papercut art in China, Xiyadie’s work transforms a centuries-old folk medium into a vessel for personal memory, eroticism, and resistance.
Xiyadie (b. 1963, Weinan, Shaanxi Province, China) is a self-taught traditional Chinese papercut artist who started creating works with homoerotic themes to tell his narrative of transformation. Xiyadie means Siberian Butterfly, a name he chose after his move to Beijing as a migrant worker in 2005, where he found an accepting community in the burgeoning gay subcultural scene.
As he relates, the Siberian Butterfly is a northern creature. Surviving in the harshest conditions, it maintains its vanity and pursuit of freedom in an environment that does not lend political agency or representation to queer-identifying peoples.
By signaling a deeper engagement with visual storytelling and hidden histories, particularly those that challenge conventional narratives of place and identity, Xiyadie’s work marks something of a departure from our previous covers. We extend our sincere thanks to the artist and Blindspot Gallery for graciously allowing us to feature this powerful, personal, and beautiful image on the cover of Issue 9.
The Quiet Light of Fan Ho
We’re also honored to include work by Fan Ho (1931-2016), a legendary photographer whose stunning black and white images captured the essence of mid-20th century Hong Kong. With a keen eye for composition and a deep appreciation for light and shadow, Fan Ho’s masterful works transcend the boundaries of documentary photography to become works of art in their own right.
Born in Shanghai, his photographs are characterized by their striking use of light and shadow, which creates a sense of drama and depth in each image. He often incorporated architectural elements into his compositions, using the lines and angles of buildings to frame his subjects and draw the viewer's eye through the image. He never intended to create a historic record of the city’s buildings and monuments; rather he aimed to capture the soul of Hong Kong.
We are grateful to the Fan Ho Trust and Estate for entrusting us with eight of his remarkable photographs, which will appear exclusively in the print edition of Issue 9.
Inside TSLR Issue 9
This summer’s issue includes:
Poetry from Marianne Boruch, Aiden Heung, Alina Stefanescu, Farnaz Fatemi, Malena Mörling, Timothy Yu, and Paula Bohince
Fiction from Roseanne Pereira
Nonfiction by Jeff Wasserstrom, Mary Cappello, David Chaffetz, and Cris Mazza
Critical essays by Jing Wang, Paul Cuff, Yiren Zheng, Zhang Ling, and Carlos Rojas
Interviews with theater director Wang Chong and filmmaker Paul Rosdy
Reviews by Flair Donglai Shi 施東來, Jane Rosenberg LaForge, and Qingsheng Xiao
Translation featuring works by Lo Yu (Fion Tse), Dai Wangshu (Tin Kei Wong), Yang Biwei (Liang Yujing), Zuo Fei (Ana Padilla Fornieles), Feng Zhi, Bian Zhilin, Wen Yiduo, Luo Qilan, & Li Bai (A.Z. Foreman)
Art by Fan Ho, Xiyadie, Cai Dongdong, and Klaus Capra
Each contribution speaks in dialogue with the others, forming a layered conversation about a range of ideas and themes, including image, exile, kinship, resistance, loss, and longing.
The Perseverance of Print and the Power of Community
We’ve printed eight issues since our founding in 2016, and we’re still here. We’re still independently run, still reader-supported, and still stubbornly print-first. Our last issue sold out completely, and we expect this one will, too. If you’d like a copy of Issue 9, then we encourage you to reserve yours early!
You can now pre-order your copy here:
https://www.shanghailiterary.com/store/p/tslr9-summer-2025
We’re incredibly proud of this new issue. It’s the kind of work that feels increasingly rare: carefully curated and sent out into the world as a tactile object meant to be held, marked, and reread rather consigned to the digital dustbin of our computer hard drives (or worse, “processed” and “repurposed” by an AI crawler).
If you’d like to support our work more broadly, please consider an annual subscription. You’ll receive two issues delivered to your door, plus a complimentary back issue as a thank-you gift.
Subscribe here: https://www.shanghailiterary.com/subscribe
As always, thank you for continuing to support independent publishing and small presses. Your pre-orders and subscriptions don’t just keep us afloat; they make it possible for us to keep publishing thoughtful, necessary work in uncertain times.
With gratitude,
The Editors