michelle chan 樂澄
@arghpoetica.bsky.social
she/her
editor @asymptote @fullstop, translator @ALTA, critic @NBCC, etc.
香港文學
linktr.ee/mcshkdk
editor @asymptote @fullstop, translator @ALTA, critic @NBCC, etc.
香港文學
linktr.ee/mcshkdk
Pinned
michelle chan 樂澄
@arghpoetica.bsky.social
· Feb 11
🎉 ALTA is very excited to announce the recipients of the 2025 ALTA Emerging Translator Mentorship Program!
There are 19 mentees in 2025. Learn more about them here, and join us in celebrating these promising emerging translators! https://buff.ly/3QbC2Bg
There are 19 mentees in 2025. Learn more about them here, and join us in celebrating these promising emerging translators! https://buff.ly/3QbC2Bg
very exciting! @mayhuangwrites.bsky.social 💛
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
So glad she/he/they got a credit on this
November 21, 2025 at 8:04 AM
So glad she/he/they got a credit on this
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE: What moved me about this film was the way it shows, without a load of sentimental corn, how writers work, drafting and redrafting their material. It's also about how beautiful things--music, books, poetry--emerge from unhappy times.
November 21, 2025 at 5:54 PM
DELIVER ME FROM NOWHERE: What moved me about this film was the way it shows, without a load of sentimental corn, how writers work, drafting and redrafting their material. It's also about how beautiful things--music, books, poetry--emerge from unhappy times.
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
November 20, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Looks like LLMs are *very* vulnerable to attack via poetic allusion: "curated poetic prompts yielded high attack-success rates (ASR), with some providers exceeding 90% ..."
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
https://arxiv.org/html/2511.15304v1
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
You ever just sit down and realize that the rise of 21st century fascism is capital's answer to climate change?
November 21, 2025 at 9:25 AM
You ever just sit down and realize that the rise of 21st century fascism is capital's answer to climate change?
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
Some 80 percent of Berlin was destroyed during WWII. Those ruins were an everyday part of Jenny Erpenbeck’s childhood, which she explores in her new essay collection, “Things That Disappear.”
Idle Things | Robert Rubsam
In “Things That Disappear,” Jenny Erpenbeck grapples with ruins, revealing the virtue of unproductive places and idle things.
thebaffler.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Some 80 percent of Berlin was destroyed during WWII. Those ruins were an everyday part of Jenny Erpenbeck’s childhood, which she explores in her new essay collection, “Things That Disappear.”
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
Terao Tetsuya graduated from NTU in Singapore and worked as a Google engineer. His new book lays bare the disgust, fascination, and sublimated envy at the heart of technical ambition. @arghpoetica.bsky.social reviews “Spent Bullets.”
Topping From the Bottom | Michelle Chan Schmidt
Maybe violence turns you on, maybe it doesn’t. Humiliation preens at either end.
thebaffler.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Terao Tetsuya graduated from NTU in Singapore and worked as a Google engineer. His new book lays bare the disgust, fascination, and sublimated envy at the heart of technical ambition. @arghpoetica.bsky.social reviews “Spent Bullets.”
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
Meet the National Book Critics Circle 2025-2026 Emerging Critics Fellows! www.bookcritics.org/emerging-cri...
August 11, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Meet the National Book Critics Circle 2025-2026 Emerging Critics Fellows! www.bookcritics.org/emerging-cri...
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
happy to see that the author's guild is hosting a free event on translator's contracts - translators deserve to have better contracts that ensure reasonable working conditions and protect translator rights
authorsguild.org/event/transl...
authorsguild.org/event/transl...
Translation Contracts 101 - The Authors Guild
Literary translators deserve recognition and compensation for their labor and creative work. While the royalties are typically low due to revenues being split between multiple parties, a publishing co...
authorsguild.org
May 8, 2025 at 3:22 PM
happy to see that the author's guild is hosting a free event on translator's contracts - translators deserve to have better contracts that ensure reasonable working conditions and protect translator rights
authorsguild.org/event/transl...
authorsguild.org/event/transl...
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
Here are some wonderful things writers/translators I admire have said about FAIR: THE LIFE-ART OF TRANSLATION, out in 1 month!
Limited edition cover: prototypepublishing.co.uk/product/fair...
Regular cover: prototypepublishing.co.uk/product/fair/
@prototypepubs.bsky.social
Limited edition cover: prototypepublishing.co.uk/product/fair...
Regular cover: prototypepublishing.co.uk/product/fair/
@prototypepubs.bsky.social
April 30, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Here are some wonderful things writers/translators I admire have said about FAIR: THE LIFE-ART OF TRANSLATION, out in 1 month!
Limited edition cover: prototypepublishing.co.uk/product/fair...
Regular cover: prototypepublishing.co.uk/product/fair/
@prototypepubs.bsky.social
Limited edition cover: prototypepublishing.co.uk/product/fair...
Regular cover: prototypepublishing.co.uk/product/fair/
@prototypepubs.bsky.social
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
The SCMP never reported Hong Kong's 140th out of 180 World Press Freedom ranking; it ran an AFP wire piece describing declining freedoms worldwide. But it's happy to trot out this obscure index no other news outlet has reported on.
Oh and it's 37th out of 73; putting Hong Kong in the bottom-half
Oh and it's 37th out of 73; putting Hong Kong in the bottom-half
May 6, 2025 at 11:28 PM
The SCMP never reported Hong Kong's 140th out of 180 World Press Freedom ranking; it ran an AFP wire piece describing declining freedoms worldwide. But it's happy to trot out this obscure index no other news outlet has reported on.
Oh and it's 37th out of 73; putting Hong Kong in the bottom-half
Oh and it's 37th out of 73; putting Hong Kong in the bottom-half
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
Voilà cinquante ans, les Khmers rouges prenaient le pouvoir au #Cambodge. La chercheuse Anne-Laure Porée étudie la façon dont ils déplacèrent le langage pour soutenir leur politique d’extermination.
www.mediapart.fr/journal/cult...
www.mediapart.fr/journal/cult...
Anne-Laure Porée : « La langue promue par les Khmers rouges, c’est d’abord la langue de la guerre »
Voilà cinquante ans, les Khmers rouges prenaient le pouvoir au Cambodge. La chercheuse Anne-Laure Porée étudie la façon dont ils déplacèrent le langage pour soutenir leur politique d’extermination.
www.mediapart.fr
April 17, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Voilà cinquante ans, les Khmers rouges prenaient le pouvoir au #Cambodge. La chercheuse Anne-Laure Porée étudie la façon dont ils déplacèrent le langage pour soutenir leur politique d’extermination.
www.mediapart.fr/journal/cult...
www.mediapart.fr/journal/cult...
these fascinate me
April 17, 2025 at 11:57 AM
these fascinate me
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986)
Green Yellow and Orange, 1960
Green Yellow and Orange, 1960
April 12, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986)
Green Yellow and Orange, 1960
Green Yellow and Orange, 1960
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
“First they came for the order of things, and my ashes said nothing, because I was a phoenix. Then they embezzled history, but memory’s account grew a forest, and that was when they came for time.”
Truth Is Never Finished | Fady Joudah
They came back for the map, but the map laughed them off: Who bombs hospitals to inherit the earth?
thebaffler.com
March 28, 2025 at 1:33 PM
“First they came for the order of things, and my ashes said nothing, because I was a phoenix. Then they embezzled history, but memory’s account grew a forest, and that was when they came for time.”
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
Selamat Ulang Tahun, amuk!
Happy Birthday, amuk.
Thank you for the all places you took me to this past yr to read you, in person and virtually. More to come! A translation of a word, responding to systemic (mis)translation, in poetry form.
Happy Birthday, amuk.
Thank you for the all places you took me to this past yr to read you, in person and virtually. More to come! A translation of a word, responding to systemic (mis)translation, in poetry form.
March 28, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Selamat Ulang Tahun, amuk!
Happy Birthday, amuk.
Thank you for the all places you took me to this past yr to read you, in person and virtually. More to come! A translation of a word, responding to systemic (mis)translation, in poetry form.
Happy Birthday, amuk.
Thank you for the all places you took me to this past yr to read you, in person and virtually. More to come! A translation of a word, responding to systemic (mis)translation, in poetry form.
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
'We know all the reasons and more why the writing life isn’t worth it, and clearly none of them really matter because we still write.' Am feeling this especially in relation to the political possibilities of writing— what do words change? How and when do they matter? thepointmag.com/criticism/ca...
Careerism | The Point Magazine
Listen to an audio version of this essay here. An acquaintance of mine, a comedy writer, once admitted to feeling disappointed that she hadn’t won […]
thepointmag.com
March 26, 2025 at 4:21 PM
'We know all the reasons and more why the writing life isn’t worth it, and clearly none of them really matter because we still write.' Am feeling this especially in relation to the political possibilities of writing— what do words change? How and when do they matter? thepointmag.com/criticism/ca...
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
that last bullet point is doing some heavy lifting
Heading to the Sevens this weekend? Here's the list of ⚠️ prohibited items ⚠️ that are not allowed in the stadium:
(ALT text for the list in text format should you wish to cut and paste)
(ALT text for the list in text format should you wish to cut and paste)
March 27, 2025 at 7:57 AM
that last bullet point is doing some heavy lifting
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
in all seriousness: one of the most important philosophical questions of our time
It does seem to be getting out of hand.
How does a society reestablish the cultural taboo against lying out out of your ass?
How does a society reestablish the cultural taboo against lying out out of your ass?
March 26, 2025 at 1:01 AM
in all seriousness: one of the most important philosophical questions of our time
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
Over a dozen University of Hong Kong (HKU) security personnel and staff escorted a small group of anti-war protesters from campus on Tuesday after calling the police to the scene.
In full: buff.ly/vOAnwrf.
Photos: Tom Grundy/HKFP.
In full: buff.ly/vOAnwrf.
Photos: Tom Grundy/HKFP.
March 26, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Over a dozen University of Hong Kong (HKU) security personnel and staff escorted a small group of anti-war protesters from campus on Tuesday after calling the police to the scene.
In full: buff.ly/vOAnwrf.
Photos: Tom Grundy/HKFP.
In full: buff.ly/vOAnwrf.
Photos: Tom Grundy/HKFP.
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
I can't teach Dracula without at least mentioning The Lair of the White Worm.
March 24, 2025 at 5:12 PM
I can't teach Dracula without at least mentioning The Lair of the White Worm.
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
Personally I would deregulate Omelas' zoning laws, allowing for the construction of more spacious domiciles and thus ultimately improving the little kid's living situation as the improvements show up down the value chain. Guess I'm just built different tho.
March 25, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Personally I would deregulate Omelas' zoning laws, allowing for the construction of more spacious domiciles and thus ultimately improving the little kid's living situation as the improvements show up down the value chain. Guess I'm just built different tho.
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
"I listen to the cities, so they will not wound me too much."
—@jmaebarizo.bsky.social on her new book, TENDER MACHINES (@tupelopress.bsky.social), w/ @tiffanytroy.bsky.social in an interview from the latest Full Stop Quarterly, ed. by @arghpoetica.bsky.social: www.full-stop.net/2025/03/20/i....
—@jmaebarizo.bsky.social on her new book, TENDER MACHINES (@tupelopress.bsky.social), w/ @tiffanytroy.bsky.social in an interview from the latest Full Stop Quarterly, ed. by @arghpoetica.bsky.social: www.full-stop.net/2025/03/20/i....
March 20, 2025 at 2:49 PM
"I listen to the cities, so they will not wound me too much."
—@jmaebarizo.bsky.social on her new book, TENDER MACHINES (@tupelopress.bsky.social), w/ @tiffanytroy.bsky.social in an interview from the latest Full Stop Quarterly, ed. by @arghpoetica.bsky.social: www.full-stop.net/2025/03/20/i....
—@jmaebarizo.bsky.social on her new book, TENDER MACHINES (@tupelopress.bsky.social), w/ @tiffanytroy.bsky.social in an interview from the latest Full Stop Quarterly, ed. by @arghpoetica.bsky.social: www.full-stop.net/2025/03/20/i....
Reposted by michelle chan 樂澄
In a set of poems, translated from Arabic by Sara Elkamel, Sinan Antoon writes about the collision of death and nature. www.thedial.world/articles/lit...
March 12, 2025 at 9:11 PM
In a set of poems, translated from Arabic by Sara Elkamel, Sinan Antoon writes about the collision of death and nature. www.thedial.world/articles/lit...