Category: Exclusive
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Russell Leong on these poems: Like apparitions or long-lost friends, these three unpublished poems—written more than twenty years ago in New London, Connecticut; Cuse, France; and Hong Kong, China—have returned to me through the efforts of editor Tammy Lai-Ming Ho.…
![[EXCLUSIVE] Three Poems by Russell Leong](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/three-poems-by-russell-leong.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS For Gab Angeles, who lent me the book. Natsume Sōseki (author), Meredith McKinney (translator), Kokoro, Penguin Classics, 2010. 256 pgs. Kokoro is the final novel written by Natsume Sōseki.…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “The Virtue of Melancholy: Reading Natsume Sōseki’s 𝐾𝑜𝑘𝑜𝑟𝑜” by Ramzzi Fariñas](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/kokoro.png?w=1024)
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Kishore Kumar I was just five when I first “saw” Kishore Kumar—his presence flickering to life on the tiny black-and-white television set my grandfather had brought back from one of his work trips to the then-USSR. There he was—handsome, dashing,…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Kishore Kumar: A Journey of Adoration and Rediscovery” by Namrata](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/kishore-kumar-cha.jpg?w=1024)
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There is a scene in the television show Friends where the six main characters—the titular friends—discuss “Chinese food.” Chandler jokingly remarks, “Yes, but in China, they just call it food.” It was a humorous moment, and it made perfect sense.…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “The Beginning of My Education in The Finer Points of Chinese Cuisine” by Jeff Beyl](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/fremont-film-still.png?w=1024)
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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
![Protected: [ESSAY] “Reading the Gap: Indeterminacy, Translation, and Legacy in 𝑆ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑠 𝑁𝑜 𝑃𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛” by Jonathan Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/she-follows-no-progression-a-theresa-hak-kyung-cha-reader-edited-by-juwon-jun-and-rachel-valinsky.png?w=579)
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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ▚ Shao Yihui (director), Her Story 好东西, 2024. 123 min. ▚ Ling Jia (director), YOLO 热辣滚烫, 2024. 130 min. Decades after Chairman Mao declared that “women hold up half…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “𝐻𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦, 𝑌𝑂𝐿𝑂, and the Alternative Family in Chinese Cinema” by Edward Allen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/the-alternative-family-in-chinese-cinema.png?w=1024)
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📁RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ▚ Lin Zhao, Flowing Creek 流溪 (originally published in Mandarin Chinese), Shanghai Sanlian Publishing Company, 2020, 192 pgs.▚ Lin Zhao, Tidal Chart 潮夕圖 (originally published in Mandarin Chinese with a variety…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Rewriting the Southeast Chinese Frontier with Tenderness: Lin Zhao’s 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑘 and 𝑇𝑖𝑑𝑎𝑙 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑟𝑡” by Winifred Dongyi Wang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/lin-zhao.jpeg?w=600)
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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
![Protected: [EXCERPT] “From 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐵𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑘𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟” by Leslie Shimotakahara](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/the-breakwater.jpg?w=900)
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Ma Ka Fai’s note: These are selected excerpts from my novel Once Upon a Time in Hong Kong III (雙天至尊), forthcoming this year. The story’s protagonist, Hon Tien-Yan, is a passionate martial arts enthusiast and an ardent admirer of Bruce Lee.…
![[TRANSLATION] “Master Ip and the Dragonling” by Ma Ka fai, translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/ma-ka-fai-e9a6ace5aeb6e8bc9d.png?w=1024)
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Poet’s note: I consider this poem an ode to beginnings—a constant reminder that, before the hurt sets in, before any damage is done, the first page of any story holds infinite promise. There is always a reason for characters to…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Beginnings are Generous” by Marco Yan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/frost-flowers-thumb.jpeg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Robert Eggers (director), Nosferatu, 2024. 132 min. Over Christmas, I finally lifted my copy of Pu Songling’s Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio off the shelf. It is often…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “You Are Not of Human Kind: A Freudian Comparison of 𝐿𝑖𝑎𝑜𝑧ℎ𝑎𝑖 and 𝑁𝑜𝑠𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢” by Angus Stewart](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/nosferatu.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS ❀ Julie Otsuka, When the Emperor Was Divine, Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. 148 pgs.❀ Julie Otsuka, The Buddha in the Attic, Alfred A. Knopf, 2011. 129 pgs.❀ Julie Otsuka,…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Julie Otsuka: The Ideal of Justice and the Reality of History” by Jiahe Chen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/julie-otsuka_cha.png?w=1024)
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“Article 5.3: Under no circumstances shall any citizen go to the capital.” This is one of the most serious of all our laws. Anyone who grew up in my village of Orfetel, only a few days’ travel from the ruins…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “In Farghestan” by Matt Turner](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/farghestan6-1.png?w=972)
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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
![Protected: [ESSAY] “A History of Peel Street Poetry” by Akin Jeje](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/images.png?w=225)
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Artwork by Raimonda I suppose you’ve seen obituaries shared on WeChat. People post them thoughtlessly, almost as if it’s routine. It feels strange, doesn’t it, that a life concludes in such a trivial manner? I used to find it unsettling,…
![[EXCLUSIVE—FICTION] “A Social Post” by Edward Allen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/a-social-post-by-edward-allen_illustration-by-raimonda-1.jpg?w=1024)
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Chris Song’s note: Roses in the Floating World 浮世薔薇 is the debut novel of Luwei Rose Luqiu 閭丘露薇, bearing an autobiographical touch as it recounts the lives of three generations of women—Miss Zhao, Ruolin, and Xiaoyu. The narrative follows these…
![[TRANSLATION] “𝑅𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐹𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 [An Excerpt]” by Luwei Rose Luqiu, translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/luwei-rose-luqiu-and-chris-song_cha-an-asian-literary-journal.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] “On Memory” by Jonathan Chan Permutations (detail), 1976. Theresa Hak Kyung Cha (South Korean, 1951–1982). Black and white, 16 mm film on video, silent; 10 min. Collection of the University…
![[ESSAY] “On Memory” by Jonathan Chan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/permutations-detail-1976.-theresa-hak-kyung-cha-south-korean-1951e280931982.jpg?w=904)
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Chris Song’s note: Haixin 海辛 (1930–2011) was one of Hong Kong’s most prolific realist fiction writers. His deep curiosity about various professions and the lives of ordinary people in Hong Kong, combined with his broad taste in literature, allowed him…
![[TRANSLATION] “Spirits of Cicadas” by Haixin, translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/haixin-e6b5b7e8be9b_chris-song.png?w=1024)
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On my way to the prison, I heard a teaser on the radio about bananas. Something to the effect that bananas were in trouble. I didn’t hear the actual story, but I’ve been thinking of bananas ever since. For several…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Memories of Bananas” by Daniel Hudon](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/bananas2.jpg?w=837)
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TIFF 2024 ▞ Introduction▞ 8. Band of Outsiders: On Neo Sora’s Happyend▞ 7. The Soul of an Artist: On Hong Sang-soo’s By The Stream▞ 6. The Two Maidens: On Trương Minh Quý’s Viet and Nam▞ 5. The Master and Her…
![[TIFF 2024] “Introduction: TIFF 2024” by Nirris Nagendrarajah](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/tiff.png?w=1024)
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Chris Song’s note: Lü Lun’s “Piano Day” tells the story of May, a Garbo-like beauty who uses her piano sessions to extract tributes from men, ensnaring both T and P in a web of emotional temptation and entanglement. Like Lü Lun’s…
![[TRANSLATION] “Piano Day” by Lü Lun, translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/lu-lun-e4beb6e580ab_cha-an-asian-literary-journal.png?w=1024)
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Andrea Lingenfelter’s Note: In “The Legend of a Funambulist”, Lawrence Kwok-ling Pun 潘國靈 takes us on a journey with the tightrope-walker Mantra from his origins in the former Soviet Union, through Cold War Europe, and on to sojourns in New York,…
![[TRANSLATION] “The Legend of a Funambulist” by Lawrence Kwok-ling Pun, Translated by Andrea Lingenfelter](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/lawrence-kwok-ling-pun-e6bd98e59c8be99d88-1.jpg?w=1024)
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Editor’s note: Read an excerpt from Lydia Kwa’s A Dream Wants Waking HERE. Lydia Kwa, A Dream Wants Waking, Buckrider Books, 2023. 226 pgs. In my latest novel A Dream Wants Waking (Buckrider Books, 2023), excerpted here, there is a…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Alternative Intelligence: On Brains, Being and the Nonhuman” by Lydia Kwa](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/a-dream-wants-waking-lydia-kwa.jpg?w=1000)
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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
![Protected: [EXCLUSIVE] “Ashen and Split: A Correspondence with Quyên Nguyễn-Hoàng” by Alex Tan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/qnh_history-draft.png?w=1024)
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There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
![Protected: [EXCLUSIVE] “Love or Enemy? South Korea’s Churches at a Crossroads” by Woojin Son](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/love-or-enemy-south-koreas-churches-at-a-crossroads-2.png?w=1024)
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“What would you think about moving here?” We were on a bus heading to Hong Kong International Airport on Lantau Island. It was dark outside. We were going to catch an early-morning flight back home to Seattle. The motion of…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “The Chinese Girl” by Jeff Beyl](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/screenshot-2024-07-03-at-06.31.04.png?w=1024)
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Chris Song’s note: In “A Night Flight”, the passengers endure days of eerie silence and mounting despair, with many succumbing to death and some choosing to leap into the night. The story draws a haunting parallel to the Flight MH370…
![[TRANSLATION] “A Night Flight” by Liu Waitong, translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/liu-waitong_cha.png?w=1024)
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It is difficult, at best, to take a leisurely walk in Hong Kong. The streets are congested with cars and trucks and buses, and the sidewalks are jam-packed with people. It is said that Hong Kong is a study in…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “He Wrote On” by Jeff Beyl](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/cha-an-asian-literary-journal.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Read “Reading Jin Yong in Translation, Part I” HERE.Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on John Minford. Jin Yong, aka Louis Cha Leung-yung (1924-2018). Picture via. ▚ Jin Yong…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Hot Popping Momma!: Reading Jin Yong in Translation, Part II” by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/20240315172927214401contentphoto4.jpg?w=1000)
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My wife’s family keep asking me if I “like Chinese things”. We recently went back to Hong Kong to visit them. We have been back to Hong Kong many times and although they know me quite well by now, they…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Do You Like Chinese Things?” by Jeff Beyl](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/cha-an-asian-literary-journal-1.jpg?w=1024)
Cha 