Sunday 13 September 2015

The Sunday Post

A rojak* of items that caught my eye this week…



Seen Elsewhere
The Korea Times (English edition): Scandals Reshape Publishing World.  A discussion of the continuing fallout following an admission of plagiarism by novelist Shin Kyung-sook, best known internationally as the author of Please Look After Mom (USA) / Please Look After Mother (UK), and winner of the Asian Man Booker Prize in 2011. 

Publishing Perspectives: Thais Clamour After Rare Books Mistakenly Sold as Recycling Material. An account of what happened after rare books from Silpakorn University Central Library were mistakenly sold to a Bangkok used book shop. 

Los Angeles Times: Tibet's Last Princess Gives A Rare Interview. Gonpo Tso, heir to the now-defunct kingdom of the Mei, until the mid-20th century centred on Aba, a predominantly Tibetan city in China's Sichuan province, talks about her life.  

Blog Spot
Each week I invite the administrator of a relevant and interesting-sounding blog to write a paragraph. This week, Sarah Dodd, on the Writing Chinese blog.

The Writing Chinese blog is part of a project at the University of Leeds, funded by the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council through the White Rose East Asia Centre, which is itself a partnership between the University of Leeds and the University of Sheffield - the Centre promotes postgraduate training, and research collaboration for the study of Japan, China and neighbouring regions. The aim of the project as a whole is to bring together writers, translators, academics and others who are involved in the production, or consumption, of contemporary Chinese literature. We have monthly featured authors and you can read their work in both Chinese and English on our blog, and we also run interviews with writers, translators and publishers, as well as a translation competition. In addition, we've got a 'What to Read Next' page, where many of the people who've been involved with the project so far have recommended their favourite Chinese writers. Finally, we run various events in Leeds, including author readings and workshops.

Do you run a blog you think may be of interest to readers of Asian Books Blog, and which you’d like to see featured here?  If so, get in touch, preferably via e-mail - asianbooksblog@gmail.com. Thanks.

Twitter Spot  
Each week I make a suggestion of an interesting Twitter account you may like to follow.  This week, an obvious one, which I may have forgotten to highlight before, Asian Review of Books, @BookReviewsAsia. The Asian Review of Books is a dedicated pan-Asia book review publication, and its Twitter account reflects its content.

In case everybody reading this blog is already following @BookReviewsAsia, here’s another suggestion: Elizabeth Pisani; @ElizabethPisani. Elizabeth Pisani is the author of Indonesia, Etc.: Exploring the Improbable Nation, and an epidemiologist known for her work on HIV and AIDS. Her account offers musings on Indonesia, public health, data sharing and sex and drugs.


*A rojak is a Singaporean salad. Like Asian Books Blog on Facebook, or follow it on Twitter: @asianbooksblog