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Cultural Consultant, Bilingual Researcher & Sensitivity Reader

I’m currently accepting requests for 2024. Please read this page fully and carefully before you reach out.

What services do I provide?

As a queer Chinese diaspora speculative fiction writer, a Mandarin-English literary translator, and independent researcher with a background in Chinese literature and folklore, I’m excited to draw on my lived experiences, multilingual skills, and cultural knowledge to help writers and creators who need consultations on issues related to Chinese and Sino diaspora representation.

I’m dedicated to supporting racialized creators and creators with marginalized identities, and will prioritize  working with them. I believe in supporting a diverse range of Sino diaspora stories and many different kinds of representation, and I especially want to help increase Sino diaspora creators’ access to literary and cultural traditions they may not otherwise have access to due to challenges like language barriers. 

The services I provide include:

  • Consultation on specialized Chinese literature and folklore topics
  • Chinese-language research (online, books, academics, archival) and translations of research materials
  • Consultation on Mandarin Chinese terms, language usage, pinyin, etc
  • Mandarin/pinyin copyediting and proofreading
  • Sensitivity reading for texts that feature Chinese and Chinese Canadian/American/diaspora characters (see list below)

List of Topic Expertise (Not exhaustive)

Lived experiences:

  • General representation of Chinese, Chinese diaspora, and East Asian characters, especially Chinese Canadian/American and Sichuanese characters
  • General Chinese history, geography, culture, customs, food, and festivals, and specifically Sichuanese, Ba Shu, and Chongqing food and culture
  • Chinese Canadian identity, history, and representational issues, especially in BC/Vancouver/the West Coast
  • Childhood, education, and city/small town life in mainland China, from the 1990s-2010s
  • Growing up in a bilingual/bicultural family (with a Chinese mother and white Canadian stepfather)
  • Queer representation, specifically based on my identity as a genderqueer, biromantic, demiromantic, asexual person

Specialized knowledge and research topics:

  • Chinese literary traditions, including wuxia/xianxia fiction, folktales, Tang dynasty poetry, modern and contemporary poetry, and short fiction, etc.
  • Chinese folklore, mythology, legends, and supernatural beings (yaoguai, xian, etc)
  • Historical Chinese settings and dynasties, especially Tang, Song, and Qing dynasties
  • Chinese music, pop culture, TV dramas, movies, and fandom
  • Mandarin Chinese and Sichuanese language, terms, and names, as well as bilingualism, multiligualism, and codeswitching
  • Queer and genderqueer terminology in Mandarin

My Experiences and Background

  • 1.5 generation Chinese Canadian immigrant settler and a queer, genderqueer woman of color
  • Published writer, editor, and Chinese-English literary translator
    • Experience writing about issues related to immigration and my racialized, queer, diaspora identity
    • Knowledge of Mandarin and English, including 6 years of Mandarin education in Mainland China
  • MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, with coursework in fiction, poetry, YA/writing for children, and translation.
    • Conducted master’s thesis research on Chinese literature and translation at universities, museums, and libraries in mainland China, HK, and Canada, with a specialization in wuxia fiction and Chinese folktales
    • University-level coursework in: Modern Chinese Literature and Film, Asian Studies, Canadian Literature, and English Literature.
  • A wuxia fiction and Chinese folklore specialist who has been featured on CBC’s North by Northwest and on podcasts (the Asians Represent Podcast!, Jianghu Hustle, and Translated Chinese Fiction podcast)

Examples of Clients/Past Projects:

  • Penguin Random House (both adult and children imprints)
  • Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group
  • HarperCollins
  • Candlewick Press/MIT Press
  • Douglas and McIntyre
  • Brace Yourself Games
  • Devolver Digital Games
  • The Gauntlet Gaming Community (Hearts of Wulin TTRPG)
  • Alexander College (guest speaker on Sino diaspora representation in film)
  • Dimension 20 show
  • Sara Wylie (filmmaker)

Specific Project Preferences

I’m happy to take on projects such as:

  • Sensitivity reading/editing fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, with a specialization in speculative, historical, and literary works
  • Cultural consultations for a range of mediums, such as game writing, film/TV, and graphic forms
  • Bilingual copyediting
  • Chinese language research

Please note that I do not perform sensitivity reading for horror or erotica projects, and ask for general content warnings for any projects that I take on.

I reserve the right to turn down a project and will briefly explain why if I do. If I can not complete a sensitivity reading project for any reason, I will share the in-line comments that I have written for the portion I read and refund the remaining fee.

Important Conditions for Cultural Consultations

  • Please do some research about the representational issues you’re dealing with before you request a consultation/sensitivity reading.
  • I do not work with any white authors, filmmakers, or creatives who is looking for a sensitivity reader/cultural consultant for what I call an “identity story,” where the main story line is about the identity, trauma, racism, stereotypes, or microaggressions faced by Chinese or Chinese diaspora characters or communities.
    • I believe these stories are meant to only be told by people with lived experiences.
    • Examples of actual identity stories I have turned down: stories about anti-Asian racism, the Cultural Revolution, Sino-Japanese War, Asian massage parlours, etc. 
  • Please understand that sensitivity reading can be a very emotionally fraught experience and approach our conversations with open-mindedness. This means being open to sweeping changes if needed.
  • If we work together, I will not disclose any information related to your project before its formal publication, but I retain my right to critique any representational issues in the published text if I wish, as I am not responsible for the text in its final published form. I am happy to sign confidentiality agreements that respects the above.
  • As a consultant for your project, I’m not offering an endorsement of your project or writing. My services should not be used as a defence against criticism. If you do this, you will be blacklisted.

Testimonials

“Yilin really did a thorough job for our illustrated book on deadline. We’re grateful that she was able to help both as a sensitivity reader as well as a Chinese language expert!”

– Jason Li, co-author of The Hanmoji Handbook (MIT Press / Candlewick)

“Yilin met with me at a very early stage of my project and helped me think through important questions about representation, setting, and character development which shaped the decisions I made going forward in a very positive way. While I had a lot of anxiety about this part of my writing process, as a first-time writer engaging with a sensitivity consultant, Yilin’s way of thinking through the issues with me and pointing out the things where I could make better choices was enormously freeing and exciting. I would recommend Yilin’s consultation to anyone considering writing in a wuxia-inspired or Chinese-inspired setting.”

– Jennifer Snow, author