Category: 2026 Books
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Hong Kong, Cantopop and the Memory of Home: Emma-Lee Moss’s My Cantopop Nights” by Susan Blumberg-Kason Emma-Lee Moss. My Cantopop Nights: A Memoir in Songs. Jonathan Cape, 2026. 352 pgs. The…
![[REVIEW] “Hong Kong, Cantopop and the Memory of Home: Emma-Lee Moss’s 𝑀𝑦 𝐶𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑝 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑠” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/emma-lee-moss.-my-cantopop-nights-a-memoir-in-songs.png?w=1009)
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[ESSAY] “The Unstuck City: Dorothy Tse’s City Like Water” by Luca Griseri Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon City Like Water. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator). City Like Water, Graywolf Press, 2026. 112 pgs. The novel resembles a décollage precisely because…
![[ESSAY] “The Unstuck City: Dorothy Tse’s 𝐶𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐿𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟” by Luca Griseri](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/city-like-water-dorothy-tse-cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg?w=1000)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Hungry as a Ghost: Compassion and Cruelty in From the Diary of Madame Mao” by Marsha McDonald All entries in Cha on Madame Mao. María Teresa Ogliastri (author), Yvette…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Hungry as a Ghost: Compassion and Cruelty in 𝐹𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑖𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑀𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑚𝑒 𝑀𝑎𝑜” by Marsha McDonald](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/from-the-diary-of-madame-mao.jpg?w=971)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Singing in Hiragana: On The Chronicles of Japan” by Mario Rustan All entries in Chaon The Chronicles of Japan Matthieu Felt (translator). The Chronicles of Japan—Volume I: Age of the…
![[ESSAY] “Singing in Hiragana: On 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑙𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐽𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑛” by Mario Rustan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/71mw8p3wrll._sl1500_.jpg?w=993)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Fathers Aren’t Mountains: A Closer Look at Buddhisagar’s Karnali Blues” by Abhinav Tulachan Buddhisagar (author), Michael Hutt (translator). Karnali Blues, Penguin Random House, 2022. 422 pgs. What role does a…
![[REVIEW] “Fathers Aren’t Mountains: A Closer Look at Buddhisagar’s 𝐾𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑖 𝐵𝑙𝑢𝑒𝑠” by Abhinav Tulachan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/buddhisagar-author-michael-hutt-translator.-karnali-blues-.png?w=970)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Theory after Academia: The Frenchmen, A Lover’s Discourse, and the Return to Everyday Life” by Anna Nguyen ❀ Emily Eakin. The Frenchmen: Or, My Life in Theory. Penguin, 2026. 496…
![[REVIEW] “Theory after Academia: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑚𝑒𝑛, 𝐴 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟’𝑠 𝐷𝑖𝑠𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒, and the Return to Everyday Life” by Anna Nguyen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/theory-after-academia-cha.png?w=895)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Jiang Qing, Power, and Historical Vilification: María Teresa Ogliastri’s From the Diary of Madame Mao” by Jennifer Eagleton All entries in Cha on Madame Mao. María Teresa Ogliastri (author), Yvette…
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[ESSAY] “Return Trips: A Japanese Canadian Writer Revisits Her Family Past at Vancouver’s Powell Street Festival” by Leslie Shimotakahara All things Leslie Shimotakahara in Cha. ARRIVAL I think of the internment camps where my Japanese Canadian grandparents spent the Second…
![[ESSAY] “Return Trips: A Japanese Canadian Writer Revisits Her Family Past at Vancouver’s Powell Street Festival” by Leslie Shimotakahara](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/766762714_1570548318418903_6545822534501777451_n.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “The Many-Headed Dragon: Myth, History, and The Chronicles of Japan” by Marsha McDonald All entries in Chaon The Chronicles of Japan Matthieu Felt (translator). The Chronicles of Japan—Volume I:…
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Mapping Belonging in Sonia Bahl’s Eighteen Inches Apart” by Namrata Sonia Bahl. Eighteen Inches Apart, Fingerprint, 2026. 362 pgs. In Eighteen Inches Apart, Sonia Bahl turns to the fleeting encounters…
![[REVIEW] “Mapping Belonging in Sonia Bahl’s 𝐸𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛 𝐼𝑛𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑠 𝐴𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡” by Namrata](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/eighteen-inches-apart-by-sonia-bahl.jpg?w=944)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Body Remade: On Sarah Wang’s New Skin” by Kailee Haong Ellis Sarah Wang. New Skin, Little, Brown and Company, 2026. 448 pgs. “Body horror” receives a new definition in…
![[REVIEW] “The Body Remade: On Sarah Wang’s 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑆𝑘𝑖𝑛” by Kailee Haong Ellis](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/sarah-wang.-new-skin-.jpg?w=993)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Many Hong Kongs: Xu Xi’s Horizon Hong Kong” by Rebekah Chan Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Horizon Hong Kong. Xu Xi. Horizon Hong Kong: Selected Stories, Gaudy Boy, 2026. 288…
![[REVIEW] “Many Hong Kongs: Xu Xi’s 𝐻𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑧𝑜𝑛 𝐻𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐾𝑜𝑛𝑔” by Rebekah Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/horizonhongkong122925.webp?w=1000)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Never Finish Making Refuge: Mai-Linh Hong’s Continental Drift” by Anna Nguyen Click HERE to read all entrieson Continental Drift. Mai-Linh Hong. Continental Drift, Trio House Press, 2026. 108 pgs. There…
![[REVIEW] “Never Finish Making Refuge: Mai-Linh Hong’s 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐷𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑡” by Anna Nguyen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/mai-linh-hong.-continental-drift.webp?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Christopher Cheung’s Very Vancouver: A City in Everyday Voices” by Raymond K. Nakamura Christopher Cheung. Very Vancouver: Uncovering the Soul of a West Coast City, ECW Press, 2026. 328…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Christopher Cheung’s 𝑉𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑉𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑣𝑒𝑟: A City in Everyday Voices” by Raymond K. Nakamura](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/very-vancouver-uncovering-the-soul-of-a-west-coast-city.jpg?w=971)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Loss, Survival, and Hope: Yuyutsu Sharma’s In God’s Messy Workplace” by Arun Budhathoki Yuyutsu Sharma. In God’s Messy Workplace: New Poems, Nirala Publications, 2026. 110 pgs. The COVID-19 pandemic generated…
![[REVIEW] “Loss, Survival, and Hope: Yuyutsu Sharma’s 𝐼𝑛 𝐺𝑜𝑑’𝑠 𝑀𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑦 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑒” by Arun Budhathoki](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/in-gods-messy-workplace-new-poems-by-yuyutsu-sharma-author-.jpg?w=1007)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “What Lingers: On Babitha Marina Justin’s The Way Madmen Smell” by Ankush Banerjee Babitha Marina Justin. The Way Madmen Smell, Red River Press, 2026. 149 pgs. Noted Trivandrum-based academic, poet,…
![[ESSAY] “What Lingers: On Babitha Marina Justin’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑦 𝑀𝑎𝑑𝑚𝑒𝑛 𝑆𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑙” by Ankush Banerjee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/the-way-madmen-smell-by-babitha-marina-justin-.jpg?w=868)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Between the Rabbit and the Not-Rabbit: Yoo Heekyung’s Surrealism in Winter Night Rabbit Worries” by San Kwon Yoo Heekyung (author), Stine An (translator). Winter Night Rabbit Worries, Ugly Duckling Press,…
![[REVIEW] “Between the Rabbit and the Not-Rabbit: Yoo Heekyung’s Surrealism in 𝑊𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑁𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑅𝑎𝑏𝑏𝑖𝑡 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠” by San Kwon](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/winter-night-rabbit-worries-1.jpg?w=600)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Insignificant Moments, Significant Lives: Xu Xi’s Horizon Hong Kong” by Jennifer Eagleton Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Horizon Hong Kong. Xu Xi. Horizon Hong Kong: Selected Stories, Gaudy Boy, 2026. 288…
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Horizon Hong Kong: Xu Xi’s Hong Kong in Words and Pictures” by Susan Blumberg-Kason Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Horizon Hong Kong. Xu Xi. Horizon Hong Kong: Selected Stories, Gaudy…
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Haunted Inheritances and Queer Futures in Salini Vineeth’s The Tree, the Well & the Drag Queen” by Namrata Salini Vineeth. The Tree, the Well & the Drag Queen, Red River…
![[REVIEW] “Haunted Inheritances and Queer Futures in Salini Vineeth’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑟𝑒𝑒, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑙 & 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐷𝑟𝑎𝑔 𝑄𝑢𝑒𝑒𝑛” by Namrata](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/the-tree-the-well-the-drag-queen.jpg?w=750)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Simmering, Steaming, Spilling: On Hongwei Bao’s Queer Playtext Hot Pot” by Ronny Chan Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Hot Pot. Hongwei Bao. Hot Pot, Poetic Edge Publishers, 2026. 112 pgs. “To…
![[ESSAY] “Simmering, Steaming, Spilling: On Hongwei Bao’s Queer Playtext 𝐻𝑜𝑡 𝑃𝑜𝑡” by Ronny Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/hongwei-bao.-hot-pot-poetic-edge-publishers-2026.-112-pgs.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Bodies and Landscapes in Flux: Displacement, Placemaking, and Agency in Mai-Linh Hong’s Continental Drift” by Shui-yin Sharon Yam Click HERE to read all entrieson Continental Drift. Mai-Linh Hong. Continental Drift,…
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Hong Kong, Then and Now, Through the Eyes of Simon Elegant” by Susan Blumberg-Kason Simon Elegant. City on Fire: A Novel of Hong Kong, Pegasus Crime, 2026. 288 pgs.…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Hong Kong, Then and Now, Through the Eyes of Simon Elegant” by Susan Blumberg-Kason](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/simon-elegant.-city-on-fire.jpg?w=989)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Every Puddle a Reflection: On Dorothy Tse’s City Like Water” by Jennifer Eagleton Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon City Like Water. Dorothy Tse (author), Natascha Bruce (translator). City Like Water, Graywolf…
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Crabs in a Glass Ceiling Barrel: Kelly Yang’s The Take” by Raymond Pun Kelly Yang. The Take, Penguin Random House, 2026. 368 pgs. The Take, the first adult fiction by…
![[REVIEW] “Crabs in a Glass Ceiling Barrel: Kelly Yang’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑎𝑘𝑒” by Raymond Pun](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/https-www.kellyyang.com_.jpg?w=993)
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FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “Yi-Ling Liu’s Portrait of China’s Digital Dissidents in The Wall Dancers” by Johanna M. Costigan Yi-Ling Liu. The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet, Knopf, 2026,…
![[ESSAY] “Yi-Ling Liu’s Portrait of China’s Digital Dissidents in 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑠” by Johanna M. Costigan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/wall-dancers.jpg?w=987)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “No Useless Poems: Tsering Woeser’s Greater Tibet” by Angus Stewart Tsering Woeser (author), edited and translated by Fiona Sze-Lorrain with Dechen Pemba. Ocean, as Much as Rain: Stories, Lyrical Prose, and…
![[REVIEW] “No Useless Poems: Tsering Woeser’s Greater Tibet” by Angus Stewart](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/ocean-as-much-as-rain-stories-lyrical-prose-and-poems-from-tibet.jpg?w=1000)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Kit Fan’s Goodbye Chinatown and the Politics of Taste” by Jonathan Han Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Goodbye Chinatown. Kit Fan, Goodbye Chinatown, World Editions, 2026. 268…
![[REVIEW] “Kit Fan’s 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑𝑏𝑦𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑛 and the Politics of Taste” by Jonathan Han](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/goodbye-chinatown-kit-fan-cha.jpg?w=938)
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Editor’s note: We are delighted to present an essay by the distinguished translator Howard Goldblatt, whose work has been instrumental in introducing modern Chinese fiction to English-speaking readers. In his essay, Goldblatt reflects on his translation of Liang Xiaosheng’s My…
![[MY DESTINY] “Me and 𝑀𝑦 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑦” by Howard Goldblatt](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/howard-goldblatt-my-destiny-and-me-for-cha.png?w=1024)
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Editor’s note: We are pleased to present the first chapter of Liang Xiaosheng’s My Destiny, translated by the renowned Howard Goldblatt, whose work has played a defining role in bringing modern Chinese fiction to an English-speaking readership. Readers interested in…
Cha 