Category: 2023 Books
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Bloom. Xi Chuan (author), Lucas Klein (translator), Bloom & Other Poems, New Directions. 2022. 204 pgs. The bewitching voice that sears through this collection of…
![[REVIEW] βXi Chuanβs Jagged Rhythms of Life: π΅ππππβ by Nadine Willems](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/bloom-other-poems_lucas-klein_xi-chuan-1.png?w=972)
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Click HERE to read an essay by Agnes Chew and an excerpt from Eternal Summer of Homeland. πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Agnes Chew, Eternal Summer of My Homeland, Epigram Books, 2023. 184 pgs.…
![[REVIEW] βStragglers in Singapore: Agnes Chewβs πΈπ‘πππππ ππ’ππππ ππ ππ¦ π»πππππππβ by Frances An](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/eternal-summer-of-my-homeland.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Making Space.ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Where Else. β Nicolette Wong (editor), Making Space: A Collection of Writing and Art, Cart Noodles Press, 2023. 163 pgs.β…
![[REVIEW] βI Will Always Return: Reading ππππππ πππππ and πβπππ πΈππ πβ by Vaughan Rapatahana](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/where-else-making-space.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Owlish. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator), Owlish, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2023. 224 pgs. The β-ishβ in Owlish by Dorothy Tse suggests a suffixed impreciseness, a mutating…
![[REVIEW] βThe Shadow of Hong Kong in Dorothy Tse’s ππ€πππ ββ by Michelle Suen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/dorothy-tse-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Lisa See, Lady Tanβs Circle of Women, Scribner, 2023. 368 pgs. A thousand years in the past, a thousand years in the futureβno matter where you live or how…
![[REVIEW] βVibrant Setting of Ancient China: Lisa Seeβs πΏπππ¦ πππβπ πΆπππππ ππ πππππβ by Emma Pei Yin](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/lisa-see_lady-tans-circle-of-women-copy.jpg?w=664)
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Identity, Home and Writing Elsewhere. Jennifer Wong, Identity, Home and Writing Elsewhere in Contemporary Chinese Diaspora Poetry, Bloomsbury, 2023. When Jennifer…
![[REVIEW] βPoetry of the Nomads: Jennifer Wongβs πΌππππ‘ππ‘π¦, π»πππ πππ ππππ‘πππ πΈππ ππ€βπππ ππ πΆπππ‘ππππππππ¦ πΆβππππ π π·πππ ππππ ππππ‘ππ¦β by Emma Zhang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/jennifer-wong-cha-identity-home-and-writing-elsewhere.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Owlish. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator), Owlish, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2023. 224 pgs. Defying our expectations of time and space, Dorothy…
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Identity, Home and Writing Elsewhere. Jennifer Wong, Identity, Home and Writing Elsewhere in Contemporary Chinese Diaspora Poetry, Bloomsbury, 2023. Jennifer…
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Brian Sze-hang Kwok, Fading Neon Lights: An Archive of Hong Kongβs Visual Culture, City University of Hong Kong Press, 2023. 202 pgs. Brian Sze-hang Kwok may not know the…
![[REVIEW] βPangs of Things That Have PassedβBrian Sze-hang Kwok’s πΉπππππ ππππ πΏππβπ‘π : π΄π π΄ππβππ£π ππ π»πππ πΎπππβπ πππ π’ππ πΆπ’ππ‘π’ππβ by Lian-Hee Wee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/29.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Tan Twan Eng, The House of Doors, Canongate, 2023. 320 pgs. Third novels can be tricky. The second has to prove the first was not a fluke. Something more…
![[REVIEW] βSome Private Morsel of Your Own: Tan Twan Engβs πβπ π»ππ’π π ππ π·ππππ β by Douglas Kerr](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/the-house-of-doors-1.jpg?w=1024)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βBeijing Bubbles: Andrew Fieldβs Rocking Chinaβ by Matt Turner Andrew Field, Rocking China: Rock Music Scenes in Beijing, Shanghai & Beyond, Earnshaw Books, 2023. 212 pgs. You can listen…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βBeijing Bubbles: Andrew Fieldβs π
ππππππ πΆβπππβ by Matt Turner](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/rocking-china-copy.jpg?w=1024)
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πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ How Kyoto Breaks Your Heart. Florentyna Leow, How Kyoto Breaks Your Heart, The Emma Press, 2023. 152 pgs. I open Florentyna Leowβs How Kyoto Breaks…
![[REVIEW] βShelter Amid Unfamiliar Rains: Florentyna Leowβs π»ππ€ πΎπ¦ππ‘π π΅πππππ πππ’π π»ππππ‘β by Ari Santiago](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/how-kyoto-breaks-your-heart-1.jpg?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Nathan Go, Forgiving Imelda Marcos, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2023. 240 pgs. Nathan Goβs novel Forgiving Imelda Marcos comes at a kind of global cultural moment for things Filipino and…
![[REVIEW] βOne Fatherβs Regret: Nathan Goβs πΉπππππ£πππ πΌπππππ ππππππ β by Noelle Q. de Jesus](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/forgiving-imelda-marcos-1.jpg?w=900)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Liu Liangcheng (author), Jeremy Tiang (translator), Bearing Word, Balestier Press, 2023. 340 pgs. Liu Liangchengβs Bearing Word is a story about a polyglot translator, a donkey who can see…
![[REVIEW] “Everything Comes Alive, Every Creature Has Agency: Liu Liangcheng’s π΅ππππππ ππππ” by Serena De Marchi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/bearing-word-1.jpg?w=657)
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π RETURN TO JUST ANOTHER DAY Today was a sunny day, so this afternoon I decided to visit a couple of Hong Kong’s urban parks. I headed off from my home in Sheung Wan soon after lunch and boarded a tram…
![[JUST ANOTHER DAY] David Clarke](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/just-another-day_cha.png?w=1024)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Malcolm Mejin, The Diary of a Rich Kid: Lost in Space, Penguin Random House SEA, 2023. 208 pgs. Malcolm Mejinβs The Diary of a Rich Kid: Lost in Space…
![[REVIEW] βPlay Pretend: Malcolm Mejinβs πβπ π·ππππ¦ ππ π π
ππβ πΎππβ by Frances An](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/diary-of-a-rich-kid-lost-in-space-1.jpg?w=407)
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θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “We Fight for Causes When the Odds Are Stacked Against Us: Togani (The Crucible)” by Jack Greenberg Gong Ji-young (author), Bruce and Ju-Chan Fulton (translators),Β Togani, University of Hawai’i Press, 2023.…
![[REVIEW] “We Fight for Causes When the Odds Are Stacked Against Us: ππππππ (The Crucible)” by Jack Greenberg](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/togani-gong-ji-young-1.jpg?w=1024)
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π Return to First Impressionsπ Return to Cha Review of Books and Films Soon Ai Ling (author) and Yeo Wei Wei (translator), Diasporic, Balestier Press, 2023. Soon Ai Lingβs short stories weave cultural trajectories from Guangdong, Hong Kong, the UK,…
![[REVIEW] “New Languages and New Lives: Soon Ai Ling’s π·πππ πππππ” by Astrid MΓΈller-Olsen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/diasporic-1.jpg?w=495)
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π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Owlish. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator), Owlish, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2023. 224 pgs. Iβve always sensed that Hong Kong has a unique way of combining the…
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β Translator’s Forewordβ Five Poemsβ Short Tongue @ Sea Breeze Books TRANSLATOR’S FOREWORD by Daryl Lim Wei Jie I first encountered the poetry of Wang Mun Kiat ι»ζζ° when I translated some of his poems for a special issue of…
![[FEATURE] πβπππ‘ πππππ’π: Translator’s Foreword by Daryl Lim Wei Jie](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/short-tongue_header.png?w=1024)
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β Translator’s Forewordβ Five Poemsβ Short Tongue @ Sea Breeze Books MODERN BOOK OF REVELATION: SMARTPHONE by Wang Mun Kiat, translated from the Chinese into English by Daryl Lim Wei Jie Looking down:the most talkativemutes Looking up:the loneliestchatterboxes . η°δ»£ε―η€Ίε½οΌζΊθ½ζζΊ…
![[FEATURE] πβπππ‘ πππππ’π: Five Poems](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/short-tongue-copy.jpg?w=1024)
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π Return to First Impressionsπ Return to Cha Review of Books and Films Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on The Sorrows of Others. Ada Zhang, The Sorrows of Others, A Public Space, 2023. 160 pgs. Empathy. Itβs a simple word and one…
![[REVIEW] βEmpathy is Key: Ada Zhangβs πβπ ππππππ€π ππ ππ‘βπππ ” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/the-sorrows-of-others-1.jpg?w=700)
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π Return to First Impressionsπ Return to Cha Review of Books and Films BαΊ£o Ninh (author), Quan Manh Ha and Cab Tran (translators and editors), HΓ Nα»i at Midnight: Stories, with a foreword by Nguyα» n VΔn ThuαΊ₯n, Texas Tech University…
![[REVIEW] βA Paradigm Shift: BαΊ£o Ninhβs HΓ Nα»i at Midnight” by Mia Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/hanoi-at-midnight-1.png?w=967)
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π Return to First Impressionsπ Return to Cha Review of Books and Films Tim Tim Cheng, Tapping at Glass, Verve Poetry Press, 2023. 44 pgs. History, of course, repeats itself. What was termed βThe Lost Generationβ by Gertrude Stein, to…
![[REVIEW] “Permutations of Loss: The Poetics of Tim Tim Cheng” by Sam Cheuk](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/cheng-tim-tim_tapping-at-glass.png?w=1024)
Cha 