Xia Jia

Wang Yao (), born June 4, 1984, known by the pen name Xia Jia (), is a Chinese science-fiction and fantasy writer. After receiving her Ph.D. in comparative literature and world literature at Department of Chinese, Peking University in 2014, she is currently a lecturer of Chinese literature at Xi'an Jiaotong University.
Xia Jia's short fiction works have won five Galaxy Awards for Chinese Science Fiction, six Nebula Awards for Science Fiction and Fantasy in Chinese. One of her short stories received honorable mention for 2013 Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Awards. Her stories have been published in "Nature", "Clarkesworld", "Year's Best SF", "SF Magazine" as well as influential Chinese Sci-Fi magazine "Science Fiction World". Besides those written in Chinese and English, her works have been translated into Czech, German, Italian, Japanese and Polish.
Biography and notable works.
Xia Jia entered School of Physics, Peking University in 2002. As an undergraduate, Xia Jia majored in Atmospheric Sciences. She then entered the Film Studies Program at the Communication University of China, where she completed her Master’s thesis: "A Study on Female Figures in Science Fiction Films". Recently, she obtained a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and World Literature at Peking University, with "Chinese Science Fiction and Its Cultural Politics Since 1990" as the topic of her dissertation. She now teaches at School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong University.
During her collegiate life she began to write science fiction works and took part in student clubs for science fiction and fantasy fans. Her short stories have attracted critical acclaim from the outset, beginning with her early Chinese Galaxy Award recipient "Guan Yaojing de Pingzi" 关妖精的瓶子 (April 2004 "Science Fiction World" trans Linda Rui Feng as "The Demon-Enslaving Flask" November 2012 "Renditions"). A work of Fabulation, in which the Scientist James Clerk Maxwell (1831-1879) is offered a Faustian challenge by a literal demon, its selection was attended by a spat among critics as to whether it could be called sf at all. The story is mired so deeply in anecdotes from the history of science, and literal interpretations of famous Thought Experiments, that it requires copious footnotes to explain its own jokes (Infodump). This, however, seems very much in keeping with the classical, didactic tradition in Chinese sf, creating a story whose fantasy elements are mere vectors to convey information about the life and work of icon figures such as Archimedes, Albert Einstein, Erwin Schrödinger and Maxwell himself.
Later work mirrored her personal academic journey from hard science into the creative arts. Her first longer work was the fixup "Jiuzhou Nilü" 九州•逆旅 ["On the Road: Odyssey of China Fantasy"] (coll of linked stories 2009), part of the Jiuzhou shared-universe fantasy series. "Bai Gui Ye Xing Jie" 百鬼夜行街 (August 2010 "Science Fiction World" trans Ken Liu as "A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight" February 2012 "Clarkesworld") is far subtler and more mature, a child's eye view of life inside what first appears to be a haunted Keep redolent of Chinese ghost stories, but is gradually revealed as a run-down Far Future theme park populated with Cyborg simulacra. It was nominated for the Short Form Award of 2013 Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Awards announced at Liburnicon 2013, held in Opatija, Croatia, over August 23–25, 2013, and received honorable mention at the ceremony.
On June 4, 2015 (online on the previous date) Xia Jia's short story "Let's have a talk" (Mandarin: "Rang Women Shuoshuohua" 让我们说说话) was published on "Nature", 522, 122. One of the earliest Chinese fiction writers who published on "Nature", Xia Jia has received international reputation among Sci-Fi fans worldwide.
Research and film experiment.
A well-educated professional scholar, Xia Jia conducts literary research on Chinese science fiction. During her postgraduate programs, her academic advisor was the famous female cultural critic, Dai Jinhua 戴锦华, Professor in the Institute of Comparative Literature and Culture, Peking University. Following Professor Dai, Xia Jia does not only compose literary works and critiques, but also study Sci-Fi films and once directed and staged an experimental Sci-Fi film "Parapax" (2007), in which the protagonist (acted herself) appeared as three identities in their respective parallel universes.
One of Xia Jia's research treatises, "Chinese science fiction in Post-Three-Body era", originally published on "People's Daily", April 7, 2015, received Silver Award for Best Review Articles at 6th Nebula Awards for Science Fiction and Fantasy in Chinese, October 18, 2015.
While teaching at Xi'an Jiaotong University, one of the C9 League Chinese top research universities, Xia Jia presided lectures about Chinese science fiction and acts as the advisor for Xi'an Alliance of University Science Fiction Fans.