Category: 2023 Entries
-
θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Feelings Can Creep Up Just Like That: Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love” by Jeff Tompkins Tony Rayns, In the Mood for Love, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2015. 96 pgs. βI…
![[REVIEW] “Feelings Can Creep Up Just Like That: Wong Kar-wai’s πΌπ π‘βπ ππππ πππ πΏππ£π” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/screenshot-2023-12-28-at-13.07.29.png)
-
TH: James Batcho writes about Bangkok, his introduction to Asia. Normally when I come to Bangkok I stay in Sukhumvit. Iβve been doing that since my Busan days, starting around 2009, I guess. This time Iβm in the Khaosan Road…
![[EXCLUSIVE] βKhaosan 1996-2019β by James Batcho](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/khaosan1-blackwhite.jpg)
-
π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Shen Yang (author), Nicky Harman (translator), More Than One Child: Memoirs of an Illegal Daughter, Balestier Press, 2021. 280 pgs. βI broke the law simply by being bornββShen Yang…
![[REVIEW] “Not Just A Memoir: Shen Yangβs ππππ πβππ πππ πΆβπππ” by Lorenzo Donelli](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/more-than-one-child-1.jpg)
-
θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Writing from the Margins: Mahasweta Devi’s Truth/Untruth” by Jack Greenberg Mahasweta Devi (author), Anjum Katyal (translator), Truth/Untruth, Seagull Books, 2023. 144 pgs. Earlier this year, Seagull Books published the late…
![[REVIEW] “Writing from the Margins: Mahasweta Devi’s πππ’π‘β/πππ‘ππ’π‘β” by Jack Greenberg](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/truthuntruth-copy.jpeg)
-
Kendall Heitzman’s introduction:ββProject Babelβ was published in Japanese in the Tokyo Shimbun on 26 November 2022. It first appeared in English in my translation at a reading on 22 September 2023 at the University of Minnesota. An abridged version was…
![[TRANSLATION] “Project Babelβ by Li Kotomi, Translated by Kendall Heitzman](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/kendall-heitzman-and-li-kotomi_cha-an-asian-literary-journal-copy-1.jpg)
-
π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Bright Fear. Mary Jean Chan, Bright Fear, Faber & Faber, 2023. 72 pgs. I first encountered Mary Jean Chanβs work in the bookstore I used to…
![[REVIEW] βVibrant Being in Mary Jean Chanβs π΅πππβπ‘ πΉπππ” by Kika W. L. Van Robay](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/bright-fear-mary-jean-chan.png)
-
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. Dorothy Tseβs Owlish, translated from the Chinese by Natascha Bruce, is a novel…
![[REVIEW] “All the Subtle References: Dorothy Tse’s ππ€πππ β” by Ilaria Maria Sala](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/dorothy-tse-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg)
-
θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Liminality of Being: Anthony Chen’s The Breaking Ice” by Jonathan Chan Anthony Chen (director),Β The Breaking Ice, 2023. 97 min. Arresting visuals, an immersive soundtrack, and interesting ideas do…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Liminality of Being: Anthony Chen’s πβπ π΅πππππππ πΌππ” by Jonathan Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/breaking-the-ice_cha-banner.png)
-
π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Hiroko Oyamada. I have had this feeling of being quiet and alone recently, since graduating from university, with the pressure…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Reading on Slow Quiet Days” by Joefel Bolo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/joefel-bolo_cha.png)
-
TH: We are pleased to present Chris Song’s English translation of Mary Wong’s short story “Christmas Shopping” θθͺθ³Όη©, which is collected in Surviving Central δΈη°δΊΊ. The story won the 25th Secondary School Studentsβ Best Ten Books Award. βΌπ βπ βπ³……π΅βπΎβπ βItβs better…
![[TRANSLATION] “Christmas Shopping” BY MARY WONG, Translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/like.png)
-
π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Bae Myung-hoon (author), Sung Ryu (translator), Tower, Honford Star, 2021. 262 pgs. In Tower, Bae Myung-Hoon unveils a kaleidoscope of vignettes anchored around the central pillar of the fictional…
![[REVIEW] “More Social-science than Fiction: Bae Myung-hoon’s πππ€ππ” by Lucy Hamilton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/flatmock-uptowerback.png)
-
TH: In this essay, Matt Turner meditates on a couple of recent concerts he attended at Dream House and Task, both in New York. In late July this year, I attended a performance at Dream House in lower Manhattan; I…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “A Space for ‘Music'” by Matt Turner](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/dh2023_1.jpg)
-
θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βAesthetics of Obsolescence: Dung Kai-cheungβs A Catalog of Such Stuff as Dreams Are Made On” by Jennifer Eagleton Dung Kai-cheung (author), Bonnie S. McDougall and Anders Hansson (translators), A…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βAesthetics of Obsolescence: Dung Kai-cheungβs π΄ πΆππ‘ππππ ππ ππ’πβ ππ‘π’ππ ππ π·πππππ π΄ππ ππππ ππ” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/a-catalog-of-such-stuff-as-dreams-are-made-on_cha-banner.png)
-
π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Wenying Xu, Eating Identities: Reading Food in Asian American Literature, University of Hawai’i Press, 2007. 208 pgs. Food has long occupied an important space in art, whether in literature,…
![[REVIEW] “Formidable Exploration of the Symbolism of Food in LiteratureβWenying Xu’s πΈππ‘πππ πΌππππ‘ππ‘πππ : π
ππππππ πΉπππ ππ π΄π πππ π΄πππππππ πΏππ‘ππππ‘π’ππ” by Janet Hui Ching Tay](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/reading-identities-cha.jpg)
-
πΒ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπΒ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mimi Okabe, Manga, Murder, and Mystery: The Boy Detectives of Japanβs Lost Generation, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023. 216 pgs. Has any national psyche (if such a thing even exists) ever…
![[REVIEW] βWalking on Thin IceβMimi Okabe’s πππππ, ππ’ππππ, πππ ππ¦π π‘πππ¦: πβπ π΅ππ¦ π·ππ‘πππ‘ππ£ππ ππ π½ππππβπ πΏππ π‘ πΊππππππ‘πππ” by Liam Beale](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/screenshot-2023-11-29-at-13.52.52.png)
-
θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] βThe Extraordinary Story of Bernardine Szold FritzβA Review of Susan Blumberg-Kason’s Bernardine’s Shanghai Salon: The Story of the Doyenne of Old China” by X. H. Collins Susan Blumberg-Kason, Bernardineβs Shanghai…
![[REVIEW] βThe Extraordinary Story of Bernardine Szold FritzβA Review of Susan Blumberg-Kason’s π΅πππππππππβπ πβπππβππ πππππ: πβπ ππ‘πππ¦ ππ π‘βπ π·ππ¦ππππ ππ πππ πΆβπππ” by X. H. Collins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/the-extraordinary-story-of-bernardine-szold-fritze28094a-review-of-susan-blumberg-kasons-bernardines-shanghai-salon-the-story-of-the-doyenne-of-old-china.jpg)
-
θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βA Bittersweet Love for a Tempestuous City: Chan Kwan Ee Tomβs Listen” by Akin Jeje Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Listen. Chan Kwan Ee Tom, Listen, Atmosphere Press, 2023. Inspired…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] βA Bittersweet Love for a Tempestuous City: Chan Kwan Ee Tomβs πΏππ π‘ππ” by Akin Jeje](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/listen_chan-kwan-ee-tom.jpg)
-
TH: Wong King Fai’s short story βThe Girl Without a Faceβ η‘ηΈε₯³ was published in the Hong Kong Literary ι¦ζΈ―ζεΈ magazine in 2009 and is included in the authorβs collection Hong Kong: Mock City ι¦ζΈ―οΌιθ€ηεεΈ. In 2023, it was shortlisted…
![[TRANSLATION] “The Girl Without a Face” by Wong King Fai, Translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/girl-without-a-face_cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg)
-
π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Ho-fung Hung, City on the Edge: Hong Kong under China Rule, Cambridge University Press, 2022. 316 pgs. βPessimism of the Intellect, Optimism of the Will.β Ho-fung Hungβs latest monograph, City…
![[REVIEW] βIs Hong Kong Expired after the National Security Law?βA Review of Ho-fung Hungβs πΆππ‘π¦ ππ π‘βπ πΈπππ: π»πππ πΎπππ π’ππππ πΆβπππ π
π’ππ” by Winnie W. C. Lai](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/city-on-the-edge_cha-banner.png)
-
TH: In this very short tale, Guru T Ladakhi presents a defiant woman proud of ownership of her body and choices, unafraid of the gossip and speculation of others. Artwork by Anastasi Holubchyk. I know a great grandmother. She is…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Tall” by Guru T Ladakhi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/anastasi-holubchyk1.png)
-
TH: Aileen Blaney explores the gentrification of the Himalayan village in the new work-from-anywhere post-pandemic dispensation. In this piece, the coffee shop is used as a device for depicting the arrival of a cosmopolitan elite in rural India. βTheyβre ruining the Himalayas with their coffee shops and…
![[EXCLUSIVE] βBasque Cheesecake in the Indian Himalayasβ by Aileen Blaney](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/dharamshala-for-digital-nomads.jpg)
-
θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Absence that Haunts the CityβA Review of Making Space: A Collection of Writing and Art” by Luca Griseri ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaonΒ Making Space. Nicolette Wong (editor), Making Space: A…
![[REVIEW] “The Absence that Haunts the CityβA Review ofππππππ πππππ: π΄ πΆππππππ‘πππ ππ ππππ‘πππ πππ π΄ππ‘” by Luca Griseri](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/making-space_cha.png)
-
θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “To Write Properly: Hwang Bo-reum’s Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop” by Jack Greenberg Hwang Bo-reum (author), Shanna Tan (translator), Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023. 320 pgs. Welcome…
![[REVIEW] “To Write Properly: Hwang Bo-reum’s πππππππ π‘π π‘βπ π»π¦π’πππ-ππππ π΅ππππ βππ” by Jack Greenberg](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/hwang-bo-reum-author-shanna-tan-translator-welcome-to-the-hyunam-dong-bookshop.png)
-
π RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONSπ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Hangping Xu and Yunte Huang (special issue editors),Β Translatability and Transmediality: Chinese Poetry in/and the World, V20: N1 ofΒ Prism: Theory and Modern Chinese Literature. Duke University Press, March 2023. 252…
![[REVIEW] “Worlds of Translation, Translated Worlds: ππππ π Special Issue πππππ πππ‘ππππππ‘π¦ πππ πππππ ππππππππ‘𦔠by Astrid MΓΈller-Olsen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/prisme28094march-2023.png)
-
θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Will in the World: Alexa Alice Joubin’s Shakespeare and East Asia” by Jeff Tompkins Alexa Alice Joubin, Shakespeare and East Asia, Oxford University Press, 2021. 272 pp. Β βWhat country, friends,…
![[REVIEW] “Will in the World: Alexa Alice Joubin’s πβππππ πππππ πππ πΈππ π‘ π΄π ππ” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/20210429_readred_banner-01.png)
-
θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Neighbourhood at HeartβWhere Else: An International Hong Kong Poetry Anthology” by Flora Mak ClickΒ HERE to readΒ all entries inΒ ChaΒ onΒ Where Else. Jennifer Wong, Jason Eng Hun Lee, and Tim Tim Cheng (editors), Where…
![[REVIEW] “Neighbourhood at Heartβπβπππ πΈππ π: π΄π πΌππ‘πππππ‘πππππ π»πππ πΎπππ ππππ‘ππ¦ π΄ππ‘βππππ𦔠by Flora Mak](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/where-else_an-international-anthology-of-hong-kong-writing.png)
-
θΆ FIRST IMPRESSIONS θΆ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Die With Your Pants Down: Patrick Tam’s Nomad” by Matt Turner Patrick Tam (director), Nomad (ηη«ιζ₯), 1982. 157 min. This review contains spoilers. I really didnβt see the final scene coming.…
![[ESSAY] “Die With Your Pants Down: Patrick Tam’s πππππ” by Matt Turner](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/nomad_japanese-poster.webp)
-
[Diary of the Absurd Life in 1997: All Entries] TH: Diary of the Absurd Life in 1997, in 28 sections, was written originally in Chinese by Mary Wong and serialised inΒ Ming PaoΒ ζε ± in 1997. The pieces, translated into English by…
-
[Diary of the Absurd Life in 1997: All Entries] TH: Diary of the Absurd Life in 1997, in 28 sections, was written originally in Chinese by Mary Wong and serialised inΒ Ming PaoΒ ζε ± in 1997. The pieces, translated into English by…
-
[Diary of the Absurd Life in 1997: All Entries] TH: Diary of the Absurd Life in 1997, in 28 sections, was written originally in Chinese by Mary Wong and serialised inΒ Ming PaoΒ ζε ± in 1997. The pieces, translated into English by…