Category: 2025 Entries
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ 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 fictionโso often described…
![[REVIEW] โThe Fierce Imagination of ๐ด๐๐ก๐-๐ถ๐๐ ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐น๐๐๐ก๐๐๐โ 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)
-
่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โThe Legacy and Brilliance of Hong Kong Crime Novels: Charles Philipp Martinโs Rented Graveโ by Susan Blumberg-Kason Charles Philipp Martin, Rented Grave: An Inspector Lok Novel, Level Best Books,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โThe Legacy and Brilliance of Hong Kong Crime Novels: Charles Philipp Martinโs ๐
๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐บ๐๐๐ฃ๐โ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/rentedgrave-1.jpg?w=992)
-
่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Order in the City: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’sIf I Do Not Reply” by Luca Griseri Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย If I Do Not Reply. Tammy Lai-Ming Ho, If I Do Not…
![[REVIEW] “Order in the City: Tammy Lai-Ming Ho’s ๐ผ๐ ๐ผ ๐ท๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐
๐๐๐๐ฆ” by Luca Griseri](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/if-i-do-not-reply_tammy-ho-1.jpg?w=907)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on The Milk Tea Alliance. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, The Milk Tea Alliance: Inside Asiaโs Struggle against Autocracy and Beijing, Columbia Global Reports, 2025. 104 pgs. The…
![[REVIEW] “Boba, Grass Jelly, Light Ice, Democracy: On Jeffrey Wasserstrom’s ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐๐๐๐๐” by Nick Zeller](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/the-milk-tea-alliance-inside-asias-struggle-against-autocracy-and-beijing.jpg?w=1000)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย The Milk Tea Alliance. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, The Milk Tea Alliance: Inside Asiaโs Struggle against Autocracy and Beijing, Columbia Global Reports, 2025. 104 pgs. Jeffrey…
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Weike Wang, Joan Is Okay, Penguin Random House, 2022. 224 pgs. Joan is Okay, the sophomore novel by Weike Wang, opens with the line: โWhen I think about…
![[REVIEW] โThe Telos of Toil: Reading Weike Wang’s ๐ฝ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฆ Through Labour and Identityโ by Tiffany Troy](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/weike-wang-joan-is-okay.png?w=1024)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Gilda Cordero-Fernando, The Last Full Moon: Lessons on My Life, University of the Philippines Press and GCF Books, 2005. 250 pgs. “I don’t want to be boring ever.”โChappell…
![[REVIEW] โGrandmothered! A Filipina Gen Z’s Critique of Gilda Cordero-Fernando’s ๐โ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ก ๐น๐ข๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โ by Janelle Tanguin](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/gilda-cordero-fernando-the-last-full-moon-lessons-of-my-life.jpg?w=1024)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Shunji Iwai (director), Undo, 1994. 47 min. The film Undo (1994) by Shunji Iwai is modest in length at just 47 minutes. Yet the narrative never feels rushed,…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Beyond Earshot: Transcribing Meaning in Shunji Iwaiโs ๐๐๐๐” by Miran Tsay](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/shunji-iwai.jpg?w=1024)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Anand Patwardhan, Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (The World is Family), 2023. 96 min. “เฎฏเฎพเฎคเฏเฎฎเฏ เฎเฎฐเฏ! เฎฏเฎพเฎตเฎฐเฏเฎฎเฏ เฎเฏเฎณเฎฟเฎฐเฏ!” (โEvery place is our homeland, everyone is our kinโ)โthese words from the Tamil…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โBetween Memory and History: Anand Patwardhan’s ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐โ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐พ๐ข๐ก๐ข๐๐๐๐๐๐โ by Kathiravan Annamalai](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/anand-patwardhan-vasudhaiva-kutumbakam-the-world-is-family-.png?w=1024)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on In the Mood for Love. Wong Kar-wai (director), In the Mood for Love, 2000. 98 min. Some films are simply like thatโfrom the moment you…
![[REVIEW] “๐ผ๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ฃ๐ at 25: Wong Kar-wai’s Cinematic Language of Longing” by G.A. Gowtham](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/in-the-mood-for-love-wong-kar-wai-2020-4k-red-ds-os-195-_blur.webp?w=1024)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Uketsu (author), Jim Rion (translator), Strange Pictures, HarperVia, 2025. 240 pgs. In the Prologue, we are told: โAll right, everyone, now Iโm going to show you a picture.โ…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โThe Reader as Detective: Uketsuโs ๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ก๐ข๐๐๐ โ by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/uketsu-author-jim-rion-translator-strange-pictures-harpervia-2025.png?w=974)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Alex John Catanese, Buddha in the Marketplace: The Commodification of Buddhist Objects in Tibet, University of Virginia Press, 2019. 334 pgs. The phenomenon of religious commodification across diverse…
![[REVIEW] “Commodifying the Sacred: Alex John Catanese’s ๐ต๐ข๐๐โ๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐๐” by Palden Gyalย](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/buddha-copy.jpg?w=1024)
-
Chris Song and Simona Gallo Dwelling in Tonguesโ Part Iโ”Hong Kong & Poetry”โ Part IIโ”A Translingual Self: The Art of Self-Translation” Editor’s note: This is the first in a two-part series of interview entitled “Dwelling in Tongues: A Conversation on…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Hong Kong & Poetry” by Simona Gallo and Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/simona-gallo-and-chris-song.png?w=1024)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Sundar Sarukkai, The Social Life of Democracy, Seagull Books, 2022, 184 pgs. When I reflect on democracy in India today, I see a concept confined largely to the…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โDemocracy as Social Practice: Sundar Sarukkai’s ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ท๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆโ by Kathiravan Annamalai](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/sundar-sarukkais-the-social-life-of-democracy.jpg?w=1000)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mandira Chakraborty, Firefly Games, Sambhavna Prakashan, 2025. 217 pgs. The world we inhabit today is a curious interplay between misinformation and an overwhelming excess of informationโone click or…
![[REVIEW] โMandira Chakrabortyโs ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐บ๐๐๐๐ : Stories of Light and Shadowโ by Sayan Aich](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/mandira-chakraborty-firefly-games.jpg?w=1000)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Nobuhiro Doi (director), Hanamizuki, 2010. 128 min. Water plays a significant role in the work of many filmmakers. One might, for instance, recall the rainwater and silvery puddles…
![[REVIEW] “The Measure of Love in Nobuhiro Doi’s ๐ป๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ข๐๐” by Anders Kรธlle](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/hanamizuki-e3838fe3838ae3839fe382bae382ad.png?w=1024)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Anru Lee, Haunted Modernities: Gender, Memory and Placemaking in Post-industrial Taiwan, University of Hawaiโi Press, 2023. 246 pgs. Anru Lee first learned of the 25 Maiden Ladiesโ Tomb…
![[REVIEW] โFrom Spirits to Statues: Commemorating Women Workers in Anru Leeโs ๐ป๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ โ by Elsa Mathews](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/haunted-modernities-gender-memory-and-placemaking-in-postindustrial-taiwan.jpg?w=994)
-
๐RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย Mending Bodies. Hon Lai Chu (author), Jacqueline Leung (translator), Mending Bodies, Two Lines Press, 2025. 240 pgs. For those who haven’t read the original Chinese…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โMagical Realism or Political Prophecy? Hon Lai Chuโsย ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐ ย Reexaminedโ by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/hon-lai-chu-author-jacqueline-leung-translator-mending-bodies-two-lines-press-2025.-240-pgs.jpg?w=938)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Han Kang (author), e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris (translators), We do Not Part, Hogarth, 2025. 272 pgs. Kyungha struggles to sleep or eat, suffers from persistent…
![[REVIEW] โThe Persistance of Memory: Han Kangโs ๐๐ ๐ท๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐กโ by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/https-www.penguinrandomhouse.combooks718535we-do-not-part-by-han-kang-translated-by-e-yaewon-and-paige-aniyah-morris.png?w=1024)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Robin Visser, Questioning Borders: Ecoliteratures of China and Taiwan, Columbia University Press, 2023. 352 pgs. In recent years, the escalating global urgency surrounding ecological crises has prompted renewed…
![[REVIEW] โRelational Ecologies and the Displacement of Borders: Reading Visser’s Sinophone Environmental Imaginaryโ by Sonalika Chaturvedi](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/questioning-borders-ecoliteratures-of-china-and-taiwan-columbia-university-press.jpg?w=1000)
-
่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โAdam Mars-Jonesโs Box Hill: A Bold Celebration of Queer Love and Desireโ by Hongwei Bao Clickย HERE to readย all entries inย Chaย onย Pillion & Box Hill. Adam Mars-Jones, Box Hill, Fitzcarraldo Editions, 2020.…
![[REVIEW] โAdam Mars-Jonesโs ๐ต๐๐ฅ ๐ป๐๐๐: A Bold Celebration of Queer Love and Desireโ by Hongwei Bao](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/box-hill.jpg?w=779)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Nicholas de Villiers, Cruisy, Sleepy, Melancholy: Sexual Disorientation in the Films of Tsai Ming-liang, The University of Minnesota Press, 2022. 216 pgs. As one of the most celebrated Chinese-language…
![[REVIEW] “Feeling QueerโNicholas de Villiersโs ๐ถ๐๐ข๐๐ ๐ฆ, ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ, ๐๐๐๐๐๐โ๐๐๐ฆ: ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ ๐ท๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐-๐๐๐๐๐” by Haley Agcaoili B.](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/cruisy-sleepy-melancholy-sexual-disorientation-in-the-films-of-tsai-ming-liang.jpg?w=971)
-
Jacqueline Leung’s note: โๆๅฏฆๅพฎๆบซ,โ pronounced โgwo sud mei wun,โ translates literally from Cantonese as โwarm fruitโ and phonetically echoes โgrocery run.โ When Stuart Lau Wai-shing attended the Iowa International Writing Program in 2017, a bus would arrive each Tuesday morning, ferrying…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Warm Fruit” by Stuart Lau, translated by Jacqueline Leung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/stuart-lau_jacqueline-leung_cha.png?w=1024)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Mike Sakas (director), City of Shells: Our Forgotten Oyster Reefs, 2025. 66 min. As Robin Wall Kimmerer reminds us, we cannot restore our relationships with nature without also engaging…
![[REVIEW] โRe-story-ation of the Hong Kong Oyster: ๐ถ๐๐ก๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐โ๐๐๐๐ โ by Tim Pit Hok Yau](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/mike-sakas-director-city-of-shells-2025.png?w=1024)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Tรฉa Sernelj, The Confucian Revival in Taiwan: Xu Fuguan and His Theory of Chinese Aesthetics, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2021. 280 pgs. In The Confucian Revival in Taiwan: Xu…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โBroad and Balanced: Tรฉa Serneljโs ๐โ๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐ข๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ค๐๐โ by Hantian Zhang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/tea-sernelj-the-confucian-revival-in-taiwan-xu-fuguan-and-his-theory-of-chinese-aesthetics-cambridge-scholars-publishing.png?w=1024)
-
่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โNarrative Reclamation: Nguyแป n Phan Quแบฟ Mai’s The Mountains Singโ by Zalman S. Davis Nguyแป n Phan Quแบฟ Mai, The Mountains Sing, Algonquin Books, 2021. 368 pgs. Nguyแป n Phan Quแบฟ Maiโs The…
![[REVIEW] โNarrative Reclamation: Nguyแป
n Phan Quแบฟ Mai’s ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐โ by Zalman S. Davis](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/the-mountains-sing-hardcover-e28093-march-17-2020-by-nguyen-phan-que-mai.jpg?w=996)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Philip Yung (director), Papa, 2024. 131 min. Prologue: Watching Hong Kong films overseas is a transposing experience. When I leave a cinema in Toronto after watching a…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โ๐๐๐๐: Time to Forgiveโ by Tin Yuet Tam](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/philip-yung-director-papa-2024.-131-min-1.jpg?w=923)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Shinya Tsukamoto ๅกๆฌๆไน, Tetsuo: The Iron Man ้็ท, 1989. 67 min. I leave the factory. Pass through a haze of cigarette smoke. Walk to the car. Slide…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] โViewing ๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ข๐: ๐โ๐ ๐ผ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ in an Old Pajama Factory in a Small Town Americaโ by Kristen Cantor](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/shinya-tsukamoto-tetsuo-the-iron-man-e98984e794b7.jpg?w=600)
-
๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐ RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Ezra Pound’s Chinese Friends. Zhaoming Qian (editor), Ezra Poundโs Chinese Friends: Stories in Letters, Oxford University Press. 2008. 272 pgs. Ezra Pound never…
![[REVIEW] โ”Eastern Liaisons: ๐ธ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐โ๐ ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐น๐๐๐๐๐๐ โ by Andrew Fan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/ezra-pound.jpg?w=1024)
-
่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] โSix Questions about the SixโSteven Schwankertโs The Six: The Untold Story of the Titanic’s Chinese Survivorsโ by Ryan Ho Kilpatrick Steven Schwankert, The Six: The Untold Story of the Titanic’s…
![[INTERVIEW] โSix Questions about the SixโSteven Schwankertโs ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ: ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐’๐ ๐ถโ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ข๐๐ฃ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ โ by Ryan Ho Kilpatrick](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/steven-schwankert-the-six-the-untold-story-of-the-titanics-chinese-survivors-1.jpg?w=988)
Cha 