Wuhan: A Documentary Novel

As rumours of a strange new illness in Wuhan spread via social media in China, 25-year-old citizen reporter Kcriss decides to travel to the epicentre of the disaster to try to find out what is really going on. He sees an ad for corpse carriers at a funeral home - Male or female, 16-50 years old, unafraid of ghosts - and decides to apply. He quickly realises that the official death figures bear no relation to what is happening in the local crematoria. But the brief moment when he can tell the truth to his followers on social media is soon over: he is discovered, followed and arrested by the security police - all documented live on the internet.

In this startlingly topical documentary novel, Liao Yiwu takes us into the heart of the crisis that unfolded in Wuhan and unpicks the secrecy and cover-up that surrounded the outbreak of the public health emergency that ravaged the world. Where did the virus come from and what happened in Wuhan? Protocols are buried and new lies cement the story of the party's heroic victory - propaganda that poisons people like the virus.

當中國社交媒體上傳播著關於武漢一種奇怪新疾病的謠言時，25歲的公民記者Kcriss決定前往災難的中心，試圖找出真相。他在一家殯儀館看到了一則招聘運屍工的廣告 - 男性或女性，16至50歲，不怕鬼 - 並決定應徵。他很快意識到官方的死亡數字與當地火葬場所發生的事情毫無關聯。但他能向社交媒體上的追隨者講出真相的瞬間很快就結束了：他被發現、跟蹤並被安全警察逮捕 - 這一切都在網上直播被記錄下來。

在這本引人注目的時事紀實小說中，廖亦武帶領我們進入了武漢危機的核心，揭開了圍繞著這場公共衛生緊急事件爆發的保密和掩蓋。病毒從哪裡來？武漢發生了什麼？協議被掩埋，新的謊言鞏固了黨的英勇勝利的故事 - 這種宣傳像病毒一樣毒害著人們。

Liao Yiwu is a Chinese writer living in Berlin.

Liao Yiwu 是一位居住在柏林的中國作家。