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[REVIEW] “Word-Kissed Truths: The Earned Simplicity of Andrew Barker’s Sonnets” by Jason Eng Hun Lee
📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Social Room. Andrew Barker, Social Room: Modern Shakespearean Sonnets (Book Three, Sonnets 204—305), Mycroft Publishers, 2025. 186 pgs. Named after the bar where the…
![[REVIEW] “Word-Kissed Truths: The Earned Simplicity of Andrew Barker’s Sonnets” by Jason Eng Hun Lee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/andrew-barker-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Also read “Feature: Lu Xun” in Cha. Lu Xun (author), Eileen J. Cheng (translator), Theodore Huters (editor), Wild Grass & Morning Blossoms Gathered at Dusk, Harvard University Press,…
![[REVIEW] “One of the Greatest Writers, Full Stop: Lu Xun’s 𝑊𝑖𝑙𝑑 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑠𝑠 & 𝑀𝑜𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐵𝑙𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑠 𝐺𝑎𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑 𝑎𝑡 𝐷𝑢𝑠𝑘” by Robert Postings](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/wild-grass-and-morning-blossoms-gathered-at-dusk-harvard-university-press-2022.-272-pgs.jpg?w=955)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kim Ki-duk (director), The Isle, 2000. 90 min. Some films are like waves that gently lap against the shores of our memories; others, however, jolt us by revealing…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐼𝑠𝑙𝑒 at 25: Kim Ki Duk’s Blooming Poem on the Island of Solitude” by G.A. Gowtham](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/f_1_the_isle_01c5e5da4c.jpeg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Masaki Kobayashi (director), Kwaidan, 1964. 175 min. Ma—a profound Japanese concept that encapsulates the essence of stillness. The term refers to the empty spaces in between, a fleeting suspension…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “𝐾𝑤𝑎𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑛: Horror and Folklore as an Art Form” by Tushi Gogoi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/kwaidan.jpg?w=570)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Derek Currie, When ‘Jesus’ Came to Hong Kong: The Remarkable Story of the First European Football Star in Asia, Blacksmith Books, 2023. 404 pgs. This is my second…
![[REVIEW] “Jesus’ Pub Tales: Derek Currie’s 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 ‘𝐽𝑒𝑠𝑢𝑠’ 𝐶𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑔” by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/when-jesus-came-to-hong-kong.jpg?w=962)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Stephanie Foo, What My Bones Know, Ballantine Books, 2022. 352 pgs. Addressing trauma is never an easy undertaking—especially when it is the survivor herself who must confront it. Stephanie…
![[REVIEW] “The Invisible Pain of Abuse and its Diagnosis: Stephanie Foo’s 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑀𝑦 𝐵𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑠 𝐾𝑛𝑜𝑤” by Fathima M](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/stephanie-foo-what-my-bones-know-1.jpg?w=987)
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[EXCLUSIVE] “I Was Rapt in The Theatre of Skies: A Conversation:” by Sudeep Sen and Jhilam Chattaraj
Sudeep Sen and Jhilam Chattaraj Jhilam Chattaraj’s note: I shall always remember that moist, sunlit afternoon. The venue—a lush tropical garden—was adorned with local blooms and talismanic touches, including multicoloured paper lanterns that swayed gently in the breeze, as though singing…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “I Was Rapt in The Theatre of Skies: A Conversation:” by Sudeep Sen and Jhilam Chattaraj](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/header.jpg?w=979)
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Chris Song and Simona Gallo Dwelling in Tongues◉ Part I—”Hong Kong & Poetry”◉ Part II—”A Translingual Self and The Art of Self-Translation” Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series of interview entitled “Dwelling in Tongues: A Conversation…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “A Translingual Self & The Art of Self-Translation” by Simona Gallo and Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/simona-gallo-and-chris-song.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS R.T. Samuel, Rakesh K. and Rashmi R.D. (editors), The Blaft Book of Anti-Caste SF, Blaft Publications, 2025. 428 pgs. It is a curious irony that speculative fiction—so often described…
![[REVIEW] “The Fierce Imagination of 𝐴𝑛𝑡𝑖-𝐶𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒 𝑆𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝐹𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛” by Ananya Singh](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/r.t.-samuel-rakesh-k.-and-rashmi-r.d.-editors-the-blaft-book-of-anti-caste-sf--1.jpg?w=938)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Legacy and Brilliance of Hong Kong Crime Novels: Charles Philipp Martin’s Rented Grave” by Susan Blumberg-Kason Charles Philipp Martin, Rented Grave: An Inspector Lok Novel, Level Best Books,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Legacy and Brilliance of Hong Kong Crime Novels: Charles Philipp Martin’s 𝑅𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝐺𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑒” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/rentedgrave-1.jpg?w=992)
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Header artwork by Annysa Ng 茶 First Impressionsclick for information 茶 Essays click for information 茶 En Routeclick for information 茶 XI XI—Can We Sayclick for information 茶 Write to Powerclick for information 茶 Auditory Cortexclick for information
Cha 