𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖 | Raymond Pun on Kelly Yang’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑎𝑘𝑒: "Much like recent psychological horror films such as 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑏𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 &𝑆𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 (2025), in which the protagonists crave to be someone else, their fear of ageing or failure drives them to..." 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃: chajournal.com/2026/05/19/t... 。。

Open Call: Proposals for Featured Coverage in 𝐶ℎ𝑎 We invite authors, editors, publishers, and readers to propose books, films, or other cultural productions for extended featured coverage in the journal, including single-author features. chajournal.com/2026/05/19/o...

I write this because I enjoy doing features with writers/ translators who have new books. Sometimes you see a review in CHA, and it can take up to six months, sometimes longer. That is already a great deal of work, but I also love featuring books more closely. And I welcome proposals. chajournal.com

Some have asked how I, or my book, gets featured in @asiancha.bsky.social, like in chajournal.com/category/rem... and chajournal.com/category/goo... and chajournal.com/category/jef... and chajournal.com/category/cul... (four recent examples), where books are reviewed more than once in the journal.

𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐘—Johanna M. Costigan on Yi-Ling Liu's 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑠 (Knopf, 2026): "a story of the evolution and costs of China’s internet censorship, rooted in individual choices and personal stakes." 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃: chajournal.com/2026/05/18/w... 。。。。。

𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐘 | Aishwarya Narayanan: "Enchanted by the possibility of finally sighting an elephant in the wild, I found myself in Kumily, a small town in Thekkady in Kerala, which serves as the gateway to the vast expanses of the Periyar..." chajournal.com/2026/05/18/e... 。。。。。

The International Writers’ Workshop at HK Baptist University is accepting applications for its 4-week Writers-in-Residence Programme in 2027. The Writers-in-Residence Programme includes airfare, accommodation,& a per diem. 📆Deadline: 14 August 2026 🔍More information: iww.hkbu.edu.hk/wp-content/u...

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 # 𝟏 In “No Useless Poems: Tsering Woeser’s Greater Tibet”, Angus Stewart reviews Tsering Woeser's 𝑂𝑐𝑒𝑎𝑛, 𝑎𝑠 𝑀𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑅𝑎𝑖𝑛: 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠, 𝐿𝑦𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑒, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑃𝑜𝑒𝑚𝑠 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑇𝑖𝑏𝑒𝑡 (Duke University Press, 2026), edited & translated by Fiona Sze-Lorrain with Dechen Pemba. chajournal.com/2026/05/12/t...

Anna Nguyen reflects on Giorgio Biancorosso’s 𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑊𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑎𝑟-𝑤𝑎𝑖 through memories of dubbed television dramas, translated pop songs,& the layered afterlives of borrowed music. She ultimately argues that Wong’s politics remain insufficiently examined. 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃: chajournal.com/2026/05/12/w... 。。。。。

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 # 𝟑 Chris Song reflects on debates in Hong Kong’s Sinophone literary field since the 2019 Biennial Awards, where tensions between everyday poetics and politically engaged writing surfaced.He discusses how prizes, criticism,& institutions shape poetic value. chajournal.com/2026/05/01/p...

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 # 𝟒 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟖 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 - 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟓 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 Mark Alden Arcenal traces a childhood friendship shaped by monsoon seasons, coastal rituals, and shared literary dreams, gradually unfolding into a meditation on queerness, faith, illness, and loss. ⧉ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: chajournal.com/2026/01/07/h... 。。。。。

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 # 𝟓 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟖 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 - 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟏𝟓 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐘 | We are delighted to present an essay by the distinguished translator Howard Goldblatt, whose work has been instrumental in introducing modern Chinese fiction to English-speaking readers. 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃: chajournal.com/category/fea... 。。。。。

𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖—In “No Useless Poems: Tsering Woeser’s Greater Tibet”, Angus Stewart reviews Tsering Woeser's 𝑂𝑐𝑒𝑎𝑛, 𝑎𝑠 𝑀𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑅𝑎𝑖𝑛,edited & translated by Fiona Sze-Lorrain with Dechen Pemba: "...a very new sort of work in English translation." 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃: chajournal.com/2026/05/12/t...

𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖—In “No Useless Poems: Tsering Woeser’s Greater Tibet”, Angus Stewart reviews Tsering Woeser's 𝑂𝑐𝑒𝑎𝑛, 𝑎𝑠 𝑀𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝑎𝑠 𝑅𝑎𝑖𝑛,edited & translated by Fiona Sze-Lorrain with Dechen Pemba: "...a very new sort of work in English translation." 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃: chajournal.com/2026/05/12/t...

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝟐𝟏𝟏𝟗? / 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎 + 100 poses a simple question to ten leading Chinese science fiction writers: what might China look like in the year 2119 – a century after the first outbreak of Covid-19. / 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: commapress.co.uk/books/china-... 。。。。。

I wrote “Letters from Hong Kong: Characters under the Cantonese Umbrella" for Asian Review of Books, published on 28 October 2014. The piece, along with a number of others that I wrote, are gone. This is very upsetting. I wonder why? LINK to ARB: asianreviewofbooks.com/pages/?ID=2053.

𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social—Anna Nguyen reflects on Biancorosso’s 𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑊𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑎𝑟-𝑤𝑎𝑖 through memories of dubbed TV dramas,translated pop songs,& the afterlives of borrowed music across HK,Vietnam,& Japan.She argues that Wong’s politics remain insufficiently examined. chajournal.com/2026/05/12/w...

𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖̄—In “Family, Failure, and Historical Memory", James Au reviews Sagisawa Megumu’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑅𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐵𝑜𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑂𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠, trans. Tyran Grillo: "My first impression... is a profound sense of nostalgia, or a lingering sense of loss." 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃: chajournal.com/2026/05/12/r...

Tim Pit Hok Yau, writing for @asiancha.bsky.social: "But what if we understood the city otherwise? What if Hongkongers recognised the ecological wealth that pulses through their waters, trees, parks, roads, skies and beyond?" ⧉ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: chajournal.blog/2025/04/26/s...

We'd love to publish reviews of Yi-Ling Liu's 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑾𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑫𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒓𝒔: 𝑺𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑭𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒅𝒐𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒏𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒕 (2026) in @asiancha.bsky.social later this year. If you are interested in reading this title, please email [email protected] www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/708614...

In her forthcoming essay, Anna discusses the Japanese film 𝑌𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑗𝑖 (1991), dir. Seijun Suzuki. I had not known the film before,& I'm fascinated by its imagery. Loosely inspired by the life of the painter & poet Takehisa Yumeji, the film drifts between memory, fantasy, eroticism, & artistic reverie.

This: "我在最好的時候碰見你，是我的運氣，可惜我沒時間了。我選擇留在我自己的歲月裡。"想想說人生無悔，都是賭氣的話。人生若無悔，那該多無趣啊。葉先生，說句真心話，我心裡有過你。我把這話告訴你也沒什麼。喜歡人不犯法，可我也只能到喜歡為止了。這些話我沒對誰說過，今晚見了你，不知道為什麼就都說出來了。就讓你我的恩怨像盤棋一樣，保留在那兒。你多保重。"

Editing a second review essay on Giorgio Biancorosso’s 𝑅𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑥𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑊𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑎𝑟-𝑤𝑎𝑖, & again amazed by Wong Kar-wai’s talent in 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑚𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟. These words, delivered by Zhang Ziyi in beautiful tears, made me cry: “我在最好的時候碰見你，是我的運氣，可惜我沒時間了。” New review next week; here’s Mario’s essay, which I also love.

Tammy Lai-Ming Ho. [reposted by DUP] My trusted Mario Rustan, who wrote about Giorgio Biancorosso’s Remixing Wong Kar-wai for @asiancha.bsky.social recently, recommended a Spotify Playlist, & I was like, YOU DON'T DESERVE Mario& me,& Cha. Why am I even doing this?

My trusted Mario Rustan, who wrote about Giorgio Biancorosso’s Remixing Wong Kar-wai for @asiancha.bsky.social recently, recommended a Spotify Playlist, & I was like, YOU DON'T DESERVE Mario& me,& Cha. Why am I even doing this? Day after day. @mariorustan.bsky.social chajournal.com/2026/05/01/r...

I miss my sisters (they used to wear matching clothes, and adorably, they also do it now, sometimes) so much. I want to see them in person. And yes, my Mama was our hairstylist, she cut our hair.

Why does the devil laugh? What would be your answer?

We would love to publish reviews of Zev Handel's 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑐𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝐴𝑠𝑖𝑎: 𝐻𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑆𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑝𝑡 𝐶𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑊𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒 𝐽𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑒, 𝐾𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑛, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑉𝑖𝑒𝑡𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠𝑒 in @asiancha.bsky.social . If you are interested, please send an email to [email protected]. 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞: uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295... 。。。。。。

Just watched the 4th episode of the first season of Paradise (Hulu). The four surveyors sent "outside" in Paradise seem to be, to some extent, modeled on the Artemis II crew.

𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐘—In his exclusive essay for @asiancha.bsky.social, Chris Song reflects on debates in Hong Kong’s Sinophone literary field since the 2019 Biennial Awards, where tensions between everyday poetics and politically engaged writing surfaced. chajournal.com/2026/05/01/p...

In Armenian, a way to say I love you is 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟. In Arabic, 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑢𝑟𝑦 𝑚𝑒. 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑙𝑘 𝑜𝑛 𝑚𝑦 𝑒𝑦𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑠. Feel the retreat of thick sea ice collapse across our bodies. —from Tishani Doshi's poem "A Theory on the Origin of Language" www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...

I answered some questions! 3. What is the greatest misconception about you? 7. What is one trait you most deplore in writing or writers? 9. Complete this sentence: Few people know this, but I... 11. What is your favourite word,& what is your least favourite one? 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞: www.qlrs.com/interview.as...

𝐍𝐄𝐖 | Mario Rustan illuminates Biancorosso's central argument that Wong Kar-wai, through his inspired repurposing of borrowed music, has fashioned a new sonic identity for each borrowed piece. The essay doubles as an affectionate tour through Wong Kar-wai's career. chajournal.com/2026/05/01/r...

[𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐘] Jeff Tompkins reads two New York Review Books collections to map Eileen Chang's career across its early Shanghai brilliance and its long, solitary exile. 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃: chajournal.com/2026/04/30/e... 。。。。。

Speaking of China's ethnic minorities, there's a recent documentary/fiction feature WHISPERS IN MAY 春日幻游 (2026), d. Chen Dongnan, a coming-of-age fable about three young Nuosu/Yi girls in the Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan. A beautiful film poised between ethnography and myth.

I’m so looking forward to returning to my alma mater Stanford University to be the keynote speaker at the CEAS/EALC commencement ceremony in June: ceas.stanford.edu/news/ceas-al...

𝗘𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳. Jeff Tompkins uses two New York Review Books collections to map Eileen Chang's career across its early Shanghai brilliance and its long, solitary exile: "Who is this shapeshifter, this woman of a thousand faces?" chajournal.com/2026/04/30/e...

"The earth is not dying, it is being killed, and those who are killing it have names and addresses." (Utah Phillips, pictured) H/T Jim Batcho

QUESTION: What underlying connection links these films? (Obviously, @mariorustan.bsky.social, don't answer!)

From ancient deities to modern poets, queer life has shaped Chinese culture for centuries. In our podcast, @yangyangcheng.bsky.social sits down with @queercomrades.bsky.social and @dariuslongarino.bsky.social to explore queer Chinese activism, literature, and why poetry can reign when courts fail.

Looking forward to being part pf this event tomorrow at GW in DC cc @ncuscr.bsky.social 👇 (as well as to then speaking at 6pm at JF Books—next door to Kramers)

𝐍𝐄𝐖 | Jonathan Han: "Mine is the fifth review of 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑏𝑦𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑛 (2026) published in @asiancha.bsky.social. This frequency raises the question of why the novel is capable of inspiring so many of my contemporaries to write, at times at considerable length, about it." chajournal.com/2026/04/29/k...

𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐘—Jose P. Mojica discusses Max Balatbat’s 2025 solo exhibition "Sampalataya", in which assemblage recasts faith through the textures of Caloocan life. 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃: chajournal.com/2026/04/29/m... 。。。。。

𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖—Kabir Deb on Abbas Panakkal's 𝐻𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑢 𝐴𝑚𝑖𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑢𝑠𝑙𝑖𝑚𝑠: 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑧𝑒𝑑 𝐼𝑠𝑙𝑎𝑚 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑂𝑐𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝐿𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑎𝑟 (2025): "Panakkal illuminates a history of shared life between Hindu & Muslim communities along the Malabar coast." 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃: chajournal.com/2026/04/29/h...

April 28 2026 - UK New Book Cover Reveal - The Last Emperor of China: Twilight of the Forbidden City - 27/8/26 - a retelling with many new sources of the story of Puyi, Wanrong, their tutors and the last days of the Forbidden City... paulfrench.substack.com/p/april-28-2...

In his upcoming review of Kit Fan's 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑏𝑦𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑛 (World Editions, 2026) for @asiancha.bsky.social, Jonathan Han writes: "I have never believed in such a thing as too much criticism, whether favourable or unfavourable... " 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1...

Can you think of a Chinese text made entirely of existing materials to present a social or political critique? An example: docsouth.unc.edu/neh/weld/wel...

Thank you @asiancha.bsky.social and Michael Tsang for this wonderfully insightful interview with @jennywcreative.bsky.social about LIGHT YEAR. "Writing through loss, language, and home", the conversation explores history, family, migration and multilingual expression. chajournal.com/2026/04/20/l...