Category: Exclusive
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Editor’s note: Cleo Li-Schwartzโs essay entwines personal pilgrimage and critical meditation, reading Berlin as a palimpsest of Jewish memory, Cold-War fracture, and inherited displacement. Moving through memorials, friendships, and borders, the narrator unsettles any stable present. The essay later turns…
![[ESSAY] โWalking with Leung Ping-kwan: Berlin, Memory, and the Intersticeโ by Cleo Li-Schwartz](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/leung-ping-kwan-cha.jpg?w=716)
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Editor’s note: In this deeply personal essay, Sajita Nair recounts her first pilgrimage to Sabarimala after decades of exclusion shaped by gendered religious custom. Beginning in childhood bewilderment at ritual prohibition, it moves through family memory, mythic inheritance and disciplined…
![[ESSAY] “The Eighteen Steps Home” by Sajita Nair](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/essay-22the-eighteen-steps-home22-by-sajita-nair.png?w=1024)
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Editor’s note: It is our pleasure to present this piece by Jennifer Eagleton, one of our most valued voices at Cha. A long-term resident of Hong Kong since 1997, Jennifer has built a distinguished career as editor, writer, and scholar,…
![[REFLECTION] “Personal Transformation Docket: 31/12/25” by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/hongkonger-t-shirt.jpg?w=1024)
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[ESSAY] โPreserving the Path of Enlightenment at Borobudur and Not Just the Stonesโ by Daniel Gauss Borobudur is an allegory of self awareness, growth and social engagement, rendered in volcanic stone. It was not built for veneration, but to be…
![[ESSAY] โPreserving the Path of Enlightenment at Borobudur and Not Just the Stonesโ by Daniel Gauss](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/borobudur_cha.jpg?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] โNot A Utopian Land: Rereading the Evenki Culture in Chi Zijianโs novel The Last Quarter of the Moon and Gu Taoโs documentary film The Last Moose of Aoluguyaโ by Yiwen…
![[ESSAY] โNot Your Utopian Land: Rereading the Evenki Culture in Chi Zijianโs novel ๐โ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐ข๐๐๐ก๐๐ ๐๐ ๐กโ๐ ๐๐๐๐ and Gu Taoโs documentary film ๐โ๐ ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ก ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐ด๐๐๐ข๐๐ข๐ฆ๐โ by Yiwen Liu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/not-a-utopian-land_yiwen-liu.png?w=1024)
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[ESSAY] โ1331 Runway: Hong Kong Youth Utopia or Real-Estate Planning Malfunction?โ by Daniel Gauss In July 2025, international media erupted with enthusiasm over a project in Hong Kong called 1331 Runway. Built on land once occupied by the former Kai…
![[ESSAY] โ1331 Runway: Hong Kong Youth Utopia or Real-Estate Planning Malfunction?โ by Daniel Gauss](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/767206174.jpg?w=576)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [Essay] “1000XRESIST and Immunity in the Chinese Diaspora” by Nick Admussen Sunset Visitor (developer), 1000xResist, Fellow Traveller Games. 2024. 1000xRESIST is a 2024 narrative video game created by the Canadian studio…
![[ESSAY] “1000๐๐
๐ธ๐๐ผ๐๐ and Immunity in the Chinese Diaspora” by Nick Admussen](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/https-www.fellowtraveller.games1000xresist.jpg?w=1024)
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[ESSAY] โSixteen Dead, Zero Justice: Cambodiaโs Monument to a Silenced Crimeโ by Daniel Gaussย
[ESSAY] โSixteen Dead, Zero Justice: Cambodiaโs Monument to a Silenced Crimeโ by Daniel Gauss In 2009, Cambodia experienced a rare moment of national pride when Duch, the Khmer Rouge official who oversaw the notorious S-21 prison, was finally brought to…
![[ESSAY] โSixteen Dead, Zero Justice: Cambodiaโs Monument to a Silenced Crimeโ by Daniel Gaussย](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cambodia_cha.jpg?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] โRealism and Memory in Chinese Film: Cecรญlia Mello’s The Cinema of Jia Zhangkeโ by Tim Murphy Click HERE to read all entries in Chaon Jia Zhangke Cecรญlia Mello. The Cinema…
![[ESSAY] โRealism and Memory in Chinese Film: Cecรญlia Mello’s ๐โ๐ ๐ถ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐โ๐๐๐๐๐โ by Tim Murphy](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/cecilia-mello.-the-cinema-of-jia-zhangke-realism-and-memory-in-chinese-film-bloomsbury-academic.jpg?w=1000)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: In Chris Songโs essay, James Sheaโs Last Day of My Face (University of Iowa Press, 2025) is read in relation to Hong Kong as both a lived city and…
![[ESSAY] “๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ก ๐ท๐๐ฆ ๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐น๐๐๐, Past Light of a City: Reading James Shea and Hong Kong” by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/https-uipress.uiowa_.edubookslast-day-my-face.jpg?w=970)
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[ESSAY] โA Woman Named Summer: Rethinking Xu Hongfeiโs Early Sculpture at the Guangzhou Museum of Artโ by Daniel Gauss Xu Hongfei’s Summer, photos by Daniel Gauss Among the many works displayed in the Guangzhou Museum of Art, one marble sculpture…
![[ESSAY] โA Woman Named Summer: Rethinking Xu Hongfeiโs Early Sculpture at the Guangzhou Museum of Artโ by Daniel Gauss](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/img_20251125_110600.jpg?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: Ai-Ting Chung’s essay โToxic Humidifiers and Atmospheric Thinking in Air Murderโ examines Air Murder (2022), directed by Jo Yong-sun, as an ecocinema work grounded in real-life tragedy: South Koreaโs…
![[ESSAY] โToxic Humidifiers andย Atmospheric Thinking in ๐ด๐๐ ๐๐ข๐๐๐๐โ by Ai-Ting Chung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/air-murder-korea.jpg?w=1024)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS Editor’s note: In โE.T. 3 is Lying in a Coffin Outside Wuhan”, Angus Stewart explores Xiaosha Zhangโs 2018 mockumentary My Son Went to an Alien Planet (E.T. Made in China), situating…
![[ESSAY] “E.T. 3 is Lying in a Coffin Outside Wuhan” by Angus Stewart](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/https-mubi.comenbefilmse-t-made-in-china.webp?w=1024)
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[ESSAY] “Wong Bar Wine: A Cinematic Oasis in Hanoi” by Zalman S.ย Davis On a calm Monday evening, I found myself at 14B Hai Bร Trฦฐng in Hanoi, drawn to a cosy corner on Trร ng Tiแปn that radiated a warm, amber…
![[ESSAY] “Wong Bar Wine: A Cinematic Oasis in Hanoi” by Zalman S. Davis](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/img_20241222_010158-e1761994105173.jpg?w=1024)
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Editor’s note: We are honoured to present the personal reflection โCurriculum Vitae in Silenceโ and the poem of the same title by Liu Hongbin, a Chinese British poet of Tiananmen exile. He was shaped by a childhood torn between pastoral…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Curriculum Vitae in Silence” by Liu Hongbin](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/marble-feature.webp?w=1024)
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Chris Song’s Note: Liu Yichangโs ๅไปฅ้ฌฏ (1918โ2018) short story โRiotโ ๅไบ, set against the backdrop of the 1967 Hong Kong Riots, is a hauntingly experimental meditation on violence, urban alienation, and the blurred boundary between the living and the inanimate.…
![[TRANSLATION] “Riot” by Liu Yichang, Translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/liu-yichang-and-chris-song-1.png?w=1024)
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Earlier this week, the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2025 was awarded to the Hungarian novelist Lรกszlรณ Krasznahorkai โfor his compelling and visionary oeuvre that, in the midst of apocalyptic terror, reaffirms the power of art.โ Coverage in outlets such…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Whose Words Win the Nobel? On Translators and the Question of Literary Recognition” by Kabir Deb](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/copy-of-copy-of-taken-as-strictly-true-neuroscience-and-sinology-in-laszlo-krasznahorkais-f09d90b7f09d9192f09d91a0f09d91a1f09d919ff09d91a2f09d9190f09d91a1f09d9196f09d919cf09d919b-f09d918.png?w=1024)
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TIFF 2025 โ 10. The Archivistโs Film: A Conversation on Kunsang Kyirongโs 100 Sunsetโ 9. She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjunโs The Sun Rises On Us Allโ 8. You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on…
![[TIFF 2025] “You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on Kalainithan Kalaichelvan’s ๐พ๐๐๐ข๐๐ฆ” by Nirris Nagendrarajah & Kalainithan Kalaichelvan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/kalainithan-kalaichelvan-on-karupy-1.jpg?w=1024)
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Editor’s note: In this interview, poet and critic Tiffany Troy speaks with translator Chenxin Jiang about her recent rendering of for now I am sitting here growing transparent (Zephyr Press, 2025) by Hong Kong poet, filmmaker, and scholar Yau Ching.…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “On Translating Hong Kong Identity, Resilience, & Longing” by Tiffany Troy and Chenxin Jiang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/71e5yoi5wl._sl1500_-1.jpg?w=1023)
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่ถ FIRST IMPRESSIONS ่ถ REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [ESSAY] โThings Fall Apart: Kong Shangrenโs The Peach Blossom Fanโ by Jeff Tompkins Kong Shangren (author), Wai-yee Li (translator). The Peach Blossom Fan, Oxford University Press, 2024. 816 pgs. Wai-yee Li…
![[ESSAY] โThings Fall Apart: Kong Shangrenโs ๐โ๐ ๐๐๐๐โ ๐ต๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐น๐๐โ by Jeff Tompkins](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/the-peach-blossom-fan.png?w=1024)
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Editorโs note: This conversation between Shuang Xiao ่็ฝ and T. L. Tsim ่ฉนๅพท้, former director of Chinese University Press, provides a wide-ranging reflection on Hong Kongโs cultural and literary landscape of the 1980s, highlighting Tsimโs collaboration with John Minford on Renditions…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “From Page to Print: In Conversation with T. L. Tsim aboutย ๐
๐๐๐๐๐ก๐๐๐๐ , CUHK Press, and his Fellowship with John Minford” by Shuang Xiao & T. L. Tsim](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/tsim-.jpg?w=1024)
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โ Afterword: Living Between Languagesโ Three Poemsโ Anything but Human ๅคง้ๅ @ TrendLit Publishing Living between languages by Daryl Lim Wei Jie My poetry was brewed in the multilingual kitchen that is Singapore. The translational and the interlingualโthat is, existing…
![[FEATURE] “๐ด๐๐ฆ๐กโ๐๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ก ๐ป๐ข๐๐๐: Living between Languages” by Daryl Lim Wei Jie](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/anythingbuthuman-copy.jpg?w=838)
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Editor’s note: In “When Everything Becomes a ‘Gender Issue’ in Asia”, Zheng Wang argues that across Asia, public debate often compresses diverse injustices into the single language of gender. While this framework can demand justice, it also displaces other issuesโclass,…
![[ESSAY] “When Everything Becomes a ‘Gender Issue’ in Asia” by Zheng Wang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/markus-winkler-y6uhsowdivs-unsplash.jpg?w=1024)
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Chris Songโs Note: Selected from Hong Kong author Lok Fungโs acclaimed short story collection The Charred City, โA Wayward Wisdom Toothโ recounts the tale of Shevon Kam, a driven beauty executive who endures a decade-long struggle with a decaying wisdom toothโa…
![[TRANSLATION] “A Wayward Wisdom Tooth” by Lok Fung, Translated by Chris Song](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/alireza-heidarpour-46cfxprdjni-unsplash.jpg?w=1024)
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Editor’s note: Emma Zhang reflects on her shifting identity as a language teacher in an age when machine translation threatens the role of English as a bridge to the world. Seeking cultural understanding, she visits Talibรฉ, an exhibition by Mauritanian…
![[EXCLUSIVE] โ๐๐๐๐๐๐ฬ: The Forgotten Faces of Globalisationโ by Emma Zhang](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/e07c3432-3e50-439d-b428-1c00cf25c682.jpg?w=1024)
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Editor’s note: In “Twist of Fate: When Writers Are Better Recognised for Their Images”, Thammika Songkaeo, author of Stamford Hospital (Penguin Random House SEA, 2025; reviewed in Cha), offers a thoughtful reflection on how contemporary publicity privileges appearance, exoticism, and…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Twist of Fate: When Writers are Better Recognised for their Images” by Thammika Songkaeo](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/banner-size.jpg?w=1024)
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Editor’s note: In “Noodle Insurrection or a Gathering of Radicals”, Jennifer Eagleton intertwines Chinese character radicals with politics, crafting a witty poem around Shaanxiโs biangbiang noodles. She blends linguistic play, cultural history, and insurrectionary imagery, demonstrating radicalsโ layered meanings. A…
![[EXCLUSIVE] โNoodle Insurrection or a Gathering of Radicalsโ by Jennifer Eagleton](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/biang-biang.png?w=1024)
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๐ RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS๐RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Editor’s note: Gauri Yadav’s review essay explores Sumana Royโs How I Became a Tree as an ecofeminist, genre-defying work that reimagines autobiography through plant life. Blending personal narrative,…
![[EXCLUSIVE] โSumana Royโs ๐ป๐๐ค ๐ผ ๐ต๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐: Autobiography as Ecofeminist Manifestoโ by Gauri Yadav](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/sumana-roy-how-i-became-a-tree-.jpg?w=1024)
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Editor’s note: In his reflection “A Slower Mode of Time”, Chris Sullivan contrasts urban haste with natureโs unhurried rhythms, weaving cicadas, childhood memories, and captive flamingos into a meditation on suspended instincts, looping time, and the quiet grace of slower…
![[EXCLUSIVE] โA Slower Mode of Timeโ by Chris Sullivan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/a-slower-mode-of-time-chris-sullivan.jpg?w=1024)
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Editor’s note: Cuiyu Lin’s “Broken English, Sweet Oranges” is a lyrical meditation on language, fragility, and repair, weaving Chinese porcelain mending with personal scars to reveal brokenness as both burden and beauty, and imperfection as a vessel for truth. The…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Broken English, Sweet Oranges” by Cuiyu Lin](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/karolina-grabowska.png?w=1024)
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