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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS James Albon (author and illustrator), Love Languages, Top Shelf Productions, 2025. 176 pgs. The book begins with six pages of vibrant illustrations depicting people of diverse cultural backgrounds at…
![[FIRST IMPRESSIONS] “Life Outside the Bubble in James Albon’s 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑔𝑒𝑠” by Vanessa Winghei Yeung](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lovelangs_jalbon-2.jpg?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Uno Chiyo (author), Rebecca Copeland (translator), The Story of a Single Woman, Pushkin Press, 2025. 106 pgs. Everything in Uno Chiyo’s The Story of a Single Woman, translated from…
![[REVIEW] “The Trembling of Memory: Self and Society in Uno Chiyo’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑎 𝑆𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑙𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛” by Wani Nazir](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/uno-chiyo-author-rebecca-copeland-translator-the-story-of-a-single-woman-pushkin-press-1.jpg?w=977)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Alternative Local and Translocal Hong Kong Histories in Larissa Lai’s The Lost Century” by Yiwen Liu Larissa Lai, The Lost Century: A Novel, Arsenal Pulp Press, 2022. 374 pgs. Published…
![[REVIEW] “Alternative Local and Translocal Hong Kong Histories in Larissa Lai’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐿𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝐶𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑦” by Yiwen Liu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/larissa-lai-the-lost-century.png?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “The Mountains Speak: The Himalayan Arc” by Abhinav Tulachan Namita Gokhale (editor), The Himalayan Arc: Journeys East of South-east, HarperCollins India, 2018. 352 pgs. Namche Bazaar has always been my…
![[REVIEW] “The Mountains Speak: 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑖𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑎𝑛 𝐴𝑟𝑐” by Abhinav Tulachan](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/namche-bazaar-the-himalayan-arc-journeys-east-of-south-east-copy.jpg?w=695)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kawika Guillermo, Nimrods: A Fake-Punk Self-Hurt Anti-Memoir, Duke University Press, 2023. 240 pgs. Fuck ’em all. Squares on bothsides. I am the only completeman in the industry.—Burroughs, Naked Lunch…
![[REVIEW] “ ‘________________________’: Rererecapitulating Kawika Guillermo’s Devastatingly Wondrous 𝑁𝑖𝑚𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑠: 𝐴 𝐹𝑎𝑘𝑒-𝑃𝑢𝑛𝑘 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑓-𝐻𝑢𝑟𝑡 𝐴𝑛𝑡𝑖-𝑀𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑖𝑟” by Jason S Polley](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/kawika-guillermo-devastating-nimrods-a-fake-punk-self-hurt-anti-memoir-.jpg?w=1024)
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茶 FIRST IMPRESSIONS 茶 REVIEW OF BOOKS & FILMS [REVIEW] “Filial Piety and Farce: Negotiating Family and Queerness in Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet” by Jade Gu Click HERE to read all entries in Cha on Ang Lee. Ang Lee (director), The Wedding Banquet, 1993.…
![[REVIEW] “Filial Piety and Farce: Negotiating Family and Queerness in Ang Lee’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑒𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐵𝑎𝑛𝑞𝑢𝑒𝑡” by Jade Gu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ang-lee-director-the-wedding-banquet-.webp?w=1024)
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Editor’s note: Ratan Bhattacharjee’s essay on Amitav Ghosh’s 2025 Pak Kyongni Prize win situates this landmark recognition within the broader terrain of world literature and ecological thought. Ghosh’s achievement underscores the moral and imaginative strength of diaspora writing, linking history,…
![[EXCLUSIVE] “Amitav Ghosh’s Pak Kyongni Prize 2025: A Diaspora Writer’s Triumph” by Ratan Bhattacharjee](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/untitled-design-28-1.png?w=1024)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Sean Wang (director), Didi, 2024. 96 min. In Chinese culture, parents often address their children by their familial roles, a gesture of affection and intimacy. My mother calls me…
![[REVIEW] “The Weight of Love: Sean Wang’s 𝐷𝑖𝑑𝑖 and the Chinese American Family” by Theodora Yu](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/sean-wang-director-didi-2024.-2.jpg?w=625)
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TIFF 2025 ▞ 10. The Archivist’s Film: A Conversation on Kunsang Kyirong’s 100 Sunset▞ 9. She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjun’s The Sun Rises On Us All▞ 8. You Don’t Belong to Anyone: A Conversation on…
![[TIFF 2025] “She Was Screaming into Silence: A Conversation on Cai Shangjun’s 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑂𝑛 𝑈𝑠 𝐴𝑙𝑙” by Nirris Nagendrarajah, Cai Shangjun & Han Nianjin](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/cai-shangjuns-the-sun-rises-on-us-all-2025.-131-min.jpg?w=1000)
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📁 RETURN TO FIRST IMPRESSIONS📁 RETURN TO CHA REVIEW OF BOOKS AND FILMS Kevin Alambra (director), Warla, 2025. 111 min. I have just watched Warla. I cannot claim any lived experience concerning trans issues; however, I found myself uneasy with the bluntness…
![[REVIEW] “𝑊𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑎: A Crime of Passionate Advocacy?” by Matthew Ordonez](https://chajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/warla_kv.png?w=600)
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Header artwork by Annysa Ng 茶 First Impressionsclick for information 茶 Essays click for information 茶 En Routeclick for information 茶 XI XI—Can We Sayclick for information 茶 Write to Powerclick for information 茶 Auditory Cortexclick for information
Cha 