"Salt Fish Girl" is the mesmerizing tale of an ageless female character who shifts shape and form through time and place. Told in the beguiling voice of a narrator who is fish, snake, girl, and woman - all of whom must struggle against adversity for survival - the novel is set alternately in nineteenth-century China and in a futuristic Pacific Northwest.At turns whimsical and wry, "Salt Fish Girl" intertwines the story of Nu Wa, the shape-shifter, and that of Miranda, a troubled young girl living in the walled city of Serendipity circa 2044. Miranda is haunted by traces of her mother's glamourous cabaret career, the strange smell of durian fruit that lingers about her, and odd tokens reminiscient of Nu Wa. Could Miranda be infected by the Dreaming Disease that makes the past leak into the present?Framed by a playful sense of magical realism, "Salt Fish Girl" reveals a futuristic Pacific Northwest where corporations govern cities, factory workers are cybernetically engineered, middle-class labour is a video game, and those who haven't sold out to commerce and other ills must fight the evil powers intent on controlling everything. Rich with ancient Chinese mythology and cultural lore, this remarkable novel is about gender, love, honour, intrigue, and fighting against oppression.
Larissa Lai was born in La Jolla, California, and grew up in St. John's, Newfoundland. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia, an MA from the University of East Anglia, and a PhD from the University of Calgary. She was poetry editor for Canadian Literature from 2007 to 2010.
Her first novel, When Fox Is a Thousand (1995) was shortlisted for the Books in Canada First Novel Award. Her second novel, Salt Fish Girl (1995) was shortlisted for the James Tiptree, Jr. Award, the Sunburst Award, and the City of Calgary W.O. Mitchell Award. Larsissa Lai lives in Vancouver, and teaches Canadian Literature in the English Department at UBC.
Rita Wong grew up in Calgary, Alberta. She is the author of two books of poetry, monkeypuzzle and forage. Her work investigates the relationships between social justice, ecology, decolonization, and contemporary poetics. Wong lives in Vancouver, and is assistant professor at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design, teaching Critical and Cultural Studies.
