Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 1h

Tammy Lai-Ming Ho @myetcetera.bsky.social, Editor-in-Chief of @asiancha.bsky.social, has been awarded the Cheney Creative Fellowship, co-hosted by the Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing & Poetry@Leeds.

⧉ 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: writingchinese.leeds.ac.uk/2025/10/12/c...
。。。。。

1 1

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 4h

[𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖] Theodora Yu writes on Sean Wang’s 𝐷𝑖𝑑𝑖 (2024), a bittersweet coming-of-age film that lays bare the quiet tensions and affections of a Taiwanese American family. "A sense of displacement and alienation permeates the film."

⧉ chajournal.blog/2025/10/15/d...
。。。。。

2

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 23h

CONGRATULATIONS to the bilingual author Yan Ge 颜歌 for being awarded the Cheney Creative Fellowship
at the Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing, the University of Leeds! Her fellowship runs from Sept 2025 to March 2027.

The Cheney Creative Fellowship: writingchinese.leeds.ac.uk/2025/10/12/c...

1 3

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 1d

[@asiancha.bsky.social 𝗘𝗫𝗖𝗟𝗨𝗦𝗜𝗩𝗘—𝗧𝗜𝗙𝗙 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱] Our resident film critic Nirris Nagendrarajah spoke with director Cai Shangjun & screenwriter Han Nianjin about 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑛 𝑅𝑖𝑠𝑒𝑠 𝑂𝑛 𝑈𝑠 𝐴𝑙𝑙 (2025), a haunting film on love, guilt, and forgiveness.

日掛中天格外紅，月缺終須有彌縫。

⧉ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: chajournal.blog/2025/10/14/t...
。。。

1

Reposted by Cha: An Asian Literary Journal

Tammy Lai-Ming Ho @myetcetera.bsky.social · 2d

𝐃𝐨𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐓𝐬𝐞, 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝑶𝒘𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉 (chajournal.blog/category/owl... 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 "𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 & 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠" 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐰𝐨𝐥𝐟 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔: 𝑪𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬. 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐚 𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞. "The city you grew up in is gone, as if sunk to the bottom of the ocean."

⧉ www.graywolfpress.org/books/city-w...

5 11

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 2d

[𝐍𝐄𝐖 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖] In Matthew Ordoñez argues that despite its groundbreaking use of transgender actors and its intention to promote understanding, 𝑊𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑎 (2025, dir. Kevin Alambra) ultimately reveals deep ethical and representational flaws.

⧉ chajournal.blog/2025/10/13/w...
。。。。。

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 2d

In his new contribution to @asiancha.bsky.social, Kabir Deb writes about translators' vital contributions to global literature remain undervalued, despite shaping authors' international recognition and success. chajournal.blog/2025/10/12/n...

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 3d

𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓: About a year ago, we announced the appointment of Eric Yip as our Poetry Editor. We are now delighted to share that Nicole Liu will be joining the editorial team of @asiancha.bsky.social as Fiction Editor. Welcome aboard, Nicole!

1

Reposted by Cha: An Asian Literary Journal

Laurence Westwood @lwestwoodauthor.bsky.social · 5d

#histbookchat #BookSky 📚💜 I wrote about the Tea & Horse Agency keeping the Song Dynasty alive (militarily) in my first Magistrate Zhu novel, now for a greater history of the horse: Raiders, Rulers, & Traders (2024) by @davidchaffetz.bsky.social

1 1 7

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 4d

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊𝐄𝐍𝐃—We are delighted to welcome back Cyril Camus with his most ambitious contribution to date, a review of Johannes Schönherr’s 𝑁𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ 𝐾𝑜𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝐶𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑚𝑎. It is a sustained exploration of how a nation constructs and mythologises itself through the moving image.

⧉ chajournal.blog/2025/10/11/k...

1

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 4d

𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐟𝐠𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧, published in 𝑈𝑠𝑎𝑤𝑎 𝐿𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑟𝑦 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑤’s 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐱 series, is a work of witness that gathers the voices of Afghan women writing through fear, exile and erasure. Curated by 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐤𝐡𝐚 𝐒𝐚𝐰𝐡𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐋𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐚.

⧉ 𝐖𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐄: usawa.in/matchbox/edi...
。。。。。

2 4

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 4d

www.instagram.com/p/DO9vMuYCpp...

1

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 5d

⧉ 𝑳𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆: 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒄𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑫𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒑𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒂
𝐁𝐲 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐲𝐚 𝐄 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐳𝐤𝐞𝐫
"...sociopolitical project of 'learning to love' at the New Life Center for Holistic Growth, a popular “mind-body-spirit” bookstore..."
press.umich.edu/Books/L/Lear...

1

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 5d

⧉ 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑻𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒔: 𝑰𝒏𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒂 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊𝒕𝒔 𝑰𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒆𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔
𝐁𝐲 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐮𝐧
"Wanning Sun critically analyzes narratives about love, romance, and intimacy in contemporary Chinese public discourses."
www.bloomsbury.com/uk/love-trou...

1 1

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 5d

⧉ 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑹𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒂: 𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑨𝑰 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔
𝐁𝐲 𝐏𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐠
"[E]xamines love, affection, and emotions in China from Maoist to contemporary China, focusing on the intersections with politics, economics, gender, class, race and technology."
www.bloomsbury.com/in/love-and-...

1 2

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 5d

⧉ 𝑹𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝑷𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑴𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒂
𝐁𝐲 𝐆𝐮𝐨 𝐓𝐢𝐧𝐠 郭婷
"[T]he first systematic examination of the ways in which the notion of love has been introduced, adapted, and engineered as a political discourse..."
www.routledge.com/Religion-Sec...

1 1

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 5d

🥰 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄. These recent scholarly books reveal how love in China is shaped by political ideals, social inequalities and the shifting ethics of modern life. If you would like to read and review any of these titles for @asiancha.bsky.social, please email [email protected] for further discussion.

1 1

Reposted by Cha: An Asian Literary Journal

Nick Admussen @nadmussen.bsky.social · 5d

I touched on it in this essay (www.nickadmussen.com/uploads/8/6/...) where I argued that it helps us see contemporary Chinese poetry as structured in part around events and actions rather than texts--and the failure of people at a modernist distance (Moretti) to understand the difference.

1

Reposted by Cha: An Asian Literary Journal

Nick Admussen @nadmussen.bsky.social · 5d

The new Nobel laureate Laszlo Krasznahorkai has a pretty interesting novel about traveling to meet contemporary Chinese poets (Xi Chuan, Ouyang Jianghe, others) called _Destruction and Sorrow beneath the Heavens_. Lucas Klein's review in @asiancha.bsky.social here: www.asiancha.com/content/view...

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal - Taken as Strictly True: Neuroscience and Sinology in Destruction and Sorrow beneath the Heavens

Cha is a Hong Kong-based online literary quarterly journal dedicated to publishing quality poetry, short stories, creative non-fiction, drama, and reviews written in English, as well as photography an...

www.asiancha.com

1 10 17

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 5d

𝑪𝑨𝑳𝑳 𝑭𝑶𝑹 𝑷𝑶𝑬𝑴𝑺—Hong Kong's Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine 聲韻詩刊 invites submissions of previously unpublished poems in English and poems newly translated from other languages into English exploring "Apocalypse" in its 𝐆𝐋𝐎𝐁𝐀𝐋, 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐃𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒. Guidelines: www.facebook.com/VoiceAndVers...

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 5d

𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 to László Krasznahorkai, awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature.

While most of Krasznahorkai’s fiction is set in Europe or expresses more universal existential themes, a few of his works reach out to East Asia with striking intensity.

www.facebook.com/AsianCha.Jou...

2 7

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 6d

𝗡𝗘𝗪 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪—Abhik Ganguly on Kiriti Sengupta’s 𝑆𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑃𝑜𝑒𝑚𝑠 (Transcendent Zero Press), which "traces the career of a polyglot Indian Bengali poet & the quiet arc of sensibility that binds Vedāntic and Tantric spiritual influences, ..."

⧉ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: chajournal.blog/2025/10/09/k...

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 6d

𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐎𝐄𝐌𝐒—Hong Kong's 聲韻詩刊 Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine invites submissions of previously unpublished poems in English and poems newly translated from other languages into English exploring "Apocalypse" in its global, collective dimensions. www.facebook.com/share/p/1HzF...

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 7d

𝗡𝗘𝗪 @asiancha.bsky.social 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪—Nazir Wani reviews Mallika Bhaumik’s 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑎 𝑀𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑐 𝐽𝑎𝑟 (Red River Press, 2025): "A life worth writing about need not be perfect or prosperous."

⧉ 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝: chajournal.blog/2025/10/08/m...
。。。。。

1

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal @asiancha.bsky.social · 7d

𝑇𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 unfurls a nightmarish vision of lovers dissolving into a single body. When it opened in China on 19 September, the film was reshaped: not only were its sex scenes excised, but an AI face-swapping sleight turned a same-sex wedding into a heterosexual union.

www.facebook.com/AsianCha.Jou...