Spending the day here in Tainan at the 臺灣文學翻譯暨出版國際論壇 / Taiwan Literature Translation and Publishing International Forum. A great talk from Renata Obadálková & Pavel Drábek reminding us "Literature is done by people, and people need to meet... Humans make books. It’s not contracts that make books."

Look at this @drhannahstevens.bsky.social. Henceforth, I'll be restlessly scouring the dusty record shops of Tainan, and I will not rest until I secure us a copy. 😆

Shit's just got real in my morning Mandarin class.

I'm just finishing writing a paper about Naomi Sím's wonderful story Emerald Orchid Love Letter (翠蘭ê情批 / Chhùi-lân ê chêng-phoe), and the relationship between divination and translation. It's been incredible amounts of fun. Oh, and you can listen to the story (and find links to buy the book) here.

At first glance, Taiwanese bureaucracy seems supremely Apollonian (all that orderliness). But I'm slowly coming to realise that, at heart, it is Dionysian through and through.

Oh, this will be so much fun. A discussion about #weaving, #art, #philosophy and more in the #Tanimbar islands of #Indonesia, with the weaver Yalanthy Masrikat, Shinta Klise, founder of Lamerenan Foundation, and Poppy Barkah from Wastra Indonesia. You can sign up here: bit.ly/Tanimbar-Tales

Now the evenings are cooler, it’s nice to wander Tainan at night.

At my former place of work. These were, it is fair to say, pretty dark days. Watch it, and weep.

This Halloween, by sheer coincidence, I'm going to, err... get exorcised. After a series of small mishaps, a friend has said she'll take me to the temple to sort me out. In the UK, I'd be thinking, "That's crazy!" But this is Taiwan, so it's just daily life, as ordinary as going to the 7-Eleven.

In a Taiwanese temple, a saliva goddess vanishes without trace... and a Hogmanay party is disrupted by an unexpected guest... 👇 books.windandbones.com/product/taigael-stories-from-taiwanese-and-gaelic

My students in Burma / Myanmar are having a tough time at the moment. So in class, we've been listening to this nugget of utter joyousness from Yo-yo Ma and the Silkroad Ensemble. I love the interactions, the sense of shared delight. I feel like a lot of us needed this today.

In my class at Parami University today, we're talking about skill, everyday expertise (we're all experts in our own lives and worlds), and attention to the small things. This also gives me an excuse to share this delight from Siri Lee / 李竺芯 during our half-time musical break.

Xunzi: The nature of human beings is bad, what goodness they have is artificial…. 人之性惡，其善者偽也。

It's been fun hanging out at the Tunghai University Taiwan Southeast Asian Studies Conference with this excellent crowd from Parami University: my colleague Dale Mineshima-Lowe, our awesome registrar Phyu Thet Wai, and our altogether brilliant student Moe Myat Kywe.

One thing I always forget when meeting Burmese friends is that I need to leave room in my suitcase for the copious quantities of snacks they will bring as gifts. Today, I'm lugging industrial quantities of laphet, sweets and savoury things back to Tainan. 😍 #Myanmar

Discover the taste of Southeast Asia… with colleagues and students from Parami University. Currently in the Family Mart at Tainan train station. On the way to the Taiwan Southeast Asian studies conference in Taichung.

“Languages are the vehicles of culture; they carry the spirit of their origins from generation to generation..." —Wen Ruoqiao 温若喬 (Taiwan), translator and poet Head to taigael.com to listen to our fabulous stories and read the reviews.

Just spent the afternoon at a concert of Taiwanese language music in Changhua, and this is a reminder that if you haven't listened to 曾立馨 / Li-sin Zeng / Hug Muzik yet, you really should. This whole album is glorious. Oh, and go and see them perform live as well. music.apple.com/us/album/%E8...

If you're a philosopher—and also the kind of person who'd make a brilliant colleague—then you should think about coming to work with me at Parami University... www.higheredjobs.com/internationa...

Taiwanese trains always seem characterised by such a deep, cathedral-like hush, I can't help thinking that the need for Boisterous Carriages is significantly greater than the need for Quiet Carriages. focustaiwan.tw/society/2025...

The excellent @drhannahstevens.bsky.social in @fictivedream.bsky.social . This was written when we were at the Taiwan literature base.

Teaching my students at Parami University in Myanmar about nonfiction storytelling using Making Comics and Understanding Comics by @scottmccloud.bsky.social. I still find these books some of the best, most practical guides to the craft of storytelling, whether in comics or in any other form.

It was so good to be up at 梓書房 / paperbooks in Taichung yesterday to attend this event with writers Naomi Sím and Kiú-kiong, talking about their writing, our @windandbones.com book, Tâigael: Stories from Taiwanese and Gaelic, and the challenges of translating between minoritised languages.

I've introduced a mid-class dance break for my students at Parami university, because sitting in front of Zoom dulls the spirit. And today's track of choice was the brilliant Sauljaljui, with Power跳起來. www.youtube.com/watch?v=qo7m...

This is a lovely, generous-spirited, article by 羅強哥 about our @windandbones.com philosophy salon in Taiwan (Mandarin, but you can run it through a translation tool). 並非一場嚴肅難解的論辯，而更像是一次在樹蔭下的輕鬆對談 Not a serious, hard-to-understand debate, but more a relaxed conversation in the shade of a tree.

The glory of the sausage dog is the mismatch between its obvious absurdity, and its look of profound self-seriousness. This mural, from Lao Tanghu 老塘湖 in Taiwan, captures this well.

I've been watching Talk Talk秀台語 to try and improve my Taiwanese. I don't know what it is doing for my language skills, but I can confidently say that it is making me incredibly hyperactive. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IzO...

Wind&Bones Interview with TaiwanPlus News Episode 2 of 3! '...a groundbreaking literary project’ Here is the second instalment of our interview about our recently published book Tâigael: Stories from Taiwanese & Gaelic. 👇😎 www.windandbones.com/posts/taiwan...

Wildly excited to be running an English / Tâi-gí ghost story writing workshop this evening with writer friend Naomi Sím, hosted by the wonderful 無有為 / Bookstore and Café Nothing here in Tainan. I'll post photos after the event.

I read this, and my first thought was "Oh, no... What's Olivia Colman gone and done now?"

Going to get my students to read Walter Benjamin's "The Storyteller", because I think they might just love it, and I've been wanting to teach it again for a long time.

The trouble with this is that, with his rhetoric on immigration, Starmer has been repeating and amplifying far-right talking points. He is responsible for fuelling the division that he decries.

Hot topic in my Kant class today: is Kant right about not lying, ever? Or is he just a Weird Little Guy?

As always, @michellekuo.bsky.social and @albertmwu.bsky.social are taking what is difficult and complex, and writing about it with extraordinary nuance, power and humanity. This is essential reading on #Taiwan.

I've just had to go back and revise a comment on a student's essay, having told them they may need to iron out a few of their glamour problems. Grammar, dammit. Grammar.... (In my classroom, of course, we're all very glamorous, even if we're not always as grammarous as we might wish...)

Why translate from Taiwanese to Gaelic and back again? Here, @drhannahstevens.bsky.social and I try to give an answer on #Taiwan Insight. Do read the other essays in this special issue as well (from Elissa Hunter-Dorans and Lisa MacDonald, with the final one soon to land from Naomi Sím).

At the thrice-weekly community gathering that is the arrival of the rubbish truck here in Tainan, I'm always particularly impressed by the sprightly pensioner who wheels his piles of rubbish to the truck, heaped up in a wheelchair.

"Why translate from Taiwanese to Gaelic and back again? What possible reason could there be to publish a book of translations between these two small languages? And what challenges are there in embarking on such an enterprise?"

I think about this a lot. Taiwan’s bustling pensioner park scene depends on it.

Delighted to have this published on Taiwan Insight today, written with @drhannahstevens.bsky.social — the first in a series about our @windandbones.com book, Tâigael: Stories from Taiwanese & Gaelic. taiwaninsight.org/2025/09/15/t... #Taiwan #Scotland #Taigi #Gaelic #literature #translation

I've not thought about this story for years, but I used to love Saki. And this is an absolute corker of a line...

If you are in Tainan, come along to this on the 27th! It's free and fun.

This also implies the UK has not concluded that Israel is NOT committing genocide either. And thus, by absolving themselves of the responsibility to conclude anything at all, they continue to collude in this ongoing, unspeakable horror.

I plan my classes in pretty minute detail. But sometimes, the best classes are when I depart from the plan, and we just chat. And today was one such class, reading Toni Morrison on race with students from Myanmar. The students were so insightful, and so generous in sharing their experiences.

Went to a brilliant artist's talk yesterday by @gwencharles.bsky.social, about rest and care. Gwen's exhibition is still on here in #Tainan. It is thought-provoking, intriguing, quirky, brave—and absolutely full to bursting with humanity. artres.moc.gov.tw/en/event/con...

This is fun…. 2 more days to go.

Uh oh. The gas stove was not working, so the (very vigorous) gas man came to rampage around the house, finding problems pretty much everywhere. He has now slumped down in the kitchen, announcing, "這邊有狀況喔!" — "We have a problem here" — and I don't know what I can do to console him.

Began my online ethics class with Myanmar students by confessing our minor sins (Tanabe: "to philosophise, first one must confess"). One student confessed he pretends the internet is not working, so he can eat his breakfast in the zoom class in peace. I admire both his honesty & his cunning.

If you need convincing that there’s no such thing as a born writer, just go to the library and ask yourself how many of the books there were written by babies.

There is a gorgeous book called "Hello Stranger" by @willbuckingham.com it is beautifully written, thought provoking and a much needed reminder of our shared humanity. Highly recommend.