Karen Gernant is professor emerita of Chinese history at Southern Oregon University. In addition to translating many of Can Xue’s works, she and Chen Zeping have translated fiction by Alai, Zhang Kangkang, Yan Lianke, Yi Zhou, Zhu Wenying, and several others.

Chen Zeping is professor emeritus of Chinese linguistics, Fujian Normal University. He and Karen Gernant are regular contributors to Conjunctions. In addition to translating fiction by Can Xue, they have translated works by Alai, Yan Lianke, Zhang Kangkang, Yi Zhou, Zhu Wenying, and a number of others.

Now living in Xishuangbanna in Yunnan Province, Can Xue has been at the forefront of experimental writing in China since 1983. Her most recent two books to appear in English translation are I Live in the Slums (Yale UP) and Purple Perilla (Common Era Books).