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茶 Click HERE for all First Impressions entries. We are constantly seeking submissions for 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, a section of Cha: An Asian Literary Journal devoted to compact reviews of books and films (500–800 words; negotiable) that may also include personal…
![[CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS] First Impressions](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/CHA-FIRST-IMPRESSIONS-TAMMY-LAI-MING-HO.png)
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[INCIDENTAL] “National Identity: A Dutch Writer in Thailand Reflects on Maps and Minds” by Jay It must have been thirty-five years ago that I met a beautiful woman at a party. It was somewhere in Europe, in a distinctly international…
![[INCIDENTAL] “National Identity: A Dutch Writer in Thailand Reflects on Maps and Minds” by Jay](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Damir-Yakupov-Unsplash.png)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “The Collective Unconscious: The Subtle Voices of Trauma in So Long-Yun’s Watching Fire” by Darius Tang So Long-Yun 蘇朗欣. Watching Fire 觀火, Ecus Publishing House 木馬文化 (an imprint of Book…
![[ESSAY] “The Collective Unconscious: The Subtle Voices of Trauma in So Long-Yun’s 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐹𝑖𝑟𝑒” by Darius Tang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/蘇朗欣.-Watching-Fire-觀火.png)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “zi: Kogonada’s Hong Kong Homecoming” by Bea Phi Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on zi. Kogonada (director), zi, 2025. 199 min. zi feels like Kogonada’s love letter…
![[ESSAY] “𝑧𝑖: Kogonada’s Hong Kong Homecoming” by Bea Phi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/zi_MichelleMao_BenjaminLoeb7.png)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Crime and No Punishment: Filipino Noir in F.H. Batacan’s Accidents Happen and Other Stories” by William Carlo Antonio Sanchez F.H. Batacan. Accidents Happen and Other Stories, Soho Crime, 2025. 272…
![[REVIEW] “Crime and No Punishment: Filipino Noir in F.H. Batacan’s 𝐴𝑐𝑐𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠 𝐻𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑂𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠” by William Carlo Antonio Sanchez](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/F.H.-Batacan-author.-Accidents-Happen-and-Other-Stories-Soho-Crime-2025.-272-pgs.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Diasporic Condition in Pik-Shuen Fung’s Ghost Forest” by Katherine Leung Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Ghost Forest. Pik-Shuen Fung. Ghost Forest, One World, 2021. 272 pgs. Pik-Shuen…
![[REVIEW] “Diasporic Condition in Pik-Shuen Fung’s 𝐺ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝐹𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡” by Katherine Leung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Pik-Shuen-Fung.-Ghost-Forest.png)
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[ESSAY] “Pen: A Vietnamese American in Tokyo” by BP Pham Having grown up in Saigon as a US-born Vietnamese American, I had been drawn to Tokyo by its apparent impartiality. I’ve been signing documents with a stolen pen. It’s in…
![[ESSAY] “Pen: A Vietnamese American in Tokyo” by BP Pham](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/IMG_0105.jpg)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Ghost Within the Ghost: Race, Sex and Ornament in Anne Anlin Cheng’s Ornamentalism” by Debra Liu Anne Anlin Cheng. Ornamentalism, Oxford University Press, 2019. 224 pgs. In July 2026,…
![[REVIEW] “The Ghost Within the Ghost: Race, Sex and Ornament in Anne Anlin Cheng’s 𝑂𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑠𝑚” by Debra Liu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Ornamentalism-Anne-Anlin-Cheng.png)
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[EXCERPT] “Self-Made Effigies: The Life of Han Suyin” by Susie Gordon Click HERE to read Susie Gordon’s essay “On Biographsing Han Suyin”. … to be whole, I must fragment myself; like a tree multiplying its skyward gestures, I proliferate personae,…
![[EXCERPT] “𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑓-𝑀𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝐸𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑔𝑖𝑒𝑠: The Life of Han Suyin” by Susie Gordon](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/11/Han-Suyin.png)
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[ESSAY] “Self-Made Effigies: On Biographising Han Suyin” by Susie Gordon Click HERE to read an excerpt from Self-Made Effigies. To the biographer, choosing a memoirist as a subject is both a gift and a curse: a gift, in that her…
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Header artwork by Annysa Ng We’re accepting submissions. Please readour important NOTES. 茶 Hong Kongclick for information 茶 First Impressionsclick for information 茶 Essays click for information 茶 Proposals click for information 茶 Poetry: En Routeclick for information 茶 Hong…
