Thursday 28 April 2016

Indie spotlight: Victor Cunrui Xiong

Indie Spotlight is our monthly column on self-publishing. This month Siobhan Daiko interviews Victor Cunrui Xiong, Professor of History, with a special interest in Asian history, at Western Michigan University, USA, and author of the historical novel Heavenly Khan.

Heavenly Khan is based on the story of Li Shimin (also known as Tang Taizong), the second emperor of the Tang dynasty, and arguably the greatest sovereign in Chinese history.  He grew up in a world of devastating upheaval that tore China apart, and he found himself thrust into the role of a military commander in his father’s rebel army while still a teenager. He proved himself to be a great military genius, vanquishing all his enemies on the battlefield. As emperor, ruling from 626 to 649 CE, he was open-minded. He encouraged critical suggestions by his court officials, which he often adopted, and he lent support to Buddhism, Daoism, and Christianity. The international prestige he won for Tang China was so high that the states of Central and North Asia honored him with the title of ‘Heavenly Khan.’

Tuesday 26 April 2016

500 words from MJ Lee

500 words from...is a series of guest posts from authors writing about Asia, or published by Asia-based, or Asia-focused, publishing houses, in which they talk about their latest books. Here MJ Lee, a Briton who has lived in London, Hong Kong, Taipei, Singapore, Bangkok and Shanghai, and who now splits his time between the UK and Asia, talks about his Inspector Danilov series.  These crime novels, set in the Shanghai of the 1920s and 1930s, feature as the sleuths Inspector Pyotr Danilov, a Russian, and his half-Scottish half-Chinese sidekick, Detective Sergeant Strachan. Martin chose to set his novels in Shanghai, between the two world wars, because it was in his opinion, the perfect location for any murder - a city of shadows, where death, decadence and debauchery stalked the art deco streets.

Sunday 24 April 2016

The Sunday Post (Shakespeare edition)

Shakespeare is surely the world's most global playwright? Yesterday, Saturday, April 23, marked the 400th anniversary of his death, and so all this past week I've been posting and sharing relevant links,with a focus on Shakespeare in Asia. Today, in the last of the week's posts, a round-up of coverage of the anniversary from the UK press, plus the final daily Shakespeare Twitter spot.

Saturday 23 April 2016

Shakespeare week: Sat April 23

Shakespeare is surely the world's most global playwright? Today, Saturday, April 23, marks the 400th anniversary of his death, and so all this week I've been posting and sharing relevant links,with a focus on Shakespeare in Asia. Today, though links to sites from leading Western libraries and from the British Council. All are well-worth clicking around.

Friday 22 April 2016

Shakespeare week: Friday

The Taming of the Shrew staged in Korea
Shakespeare is surely the world's most global playwright? Tomorrow, Saturday, April 23, marks the 400th anniversary of his death, and so all this week I've been posting and sharing relevant links - with a focus on Shakespeare in Asia. 

Thursday 21 April 2016

Shakespeare week: Thursday

A Midsummer Night's Dream staged in Beijing
Shakespeare is surely the world's most global playwright? Saturday, April 23, marks the 400th anniversary of his death, and so all this week I'm posting and sharing relevant links - with a focus on Shakespeare in Asia. Today, Shakespeare (Shashibiya) in China, a competition, and the daily Shakespeare Twitter spot.

Wednesday 20 April 2016

Shakespeare week: Wednesday

Shakespeare is surely the world's most global playwright? Saturday, April 23, marks the 400th anniversary of his death, and so all this week I'll be posting and sharing relevant links - with a focus on Shakespeare in Asia. Today, two books on the influence of Shakespeare on Japanese theatre traditions, and a competition inspired by the Goodreads Shakespeare week.

Tuesday 19 April 2016

Shakespeare week: Tuesday

Shakespeare is surely the world's most global playwright? Saturday, April 23, marks the 400th anniversary of his death, and so all this week I'll be posting and sharing relevant links - with a focus on Shakespeare in Asia. Today, a fantastic online video and performance archive from The Massachusetts Institute of Technology: MIT Global Shakespeares.

It's a really interesting site to explore. 

For India click here.

For East and Southeast Asia click here.

Daily Shakespeare Twitter spot

I can't find any Twitter accounts linked to MIT Global Shakespeares, so today's suggested account is #Shakespeare.

Monday 18 April 2016

Shakespeare week: Monday

Shakespeare is surely the world's most global playwright? Saturday, April 23, marks the 400th anniversary of his death, and so all this week I'll be posting and sharing relevant links - with a focus on Shakespeare in Asia. But to kick off, here are three UK-based websites you may enjoy exploring, plus a Twitter hashtag:

The Royal Shakespeare Company - click on the button "about Shakespeare."

Shakespeare Birthplace Trust - take online tours of Shakespeare's family homes.

Shakespeare's Globe - click around to discover more about the rebuilding  of Shakespeare's iconic theatre.

Daily Shakespeare Twitter spot
#Shakespare400 - Shakespeare themed tweets from around the world.






Sunday 17 April 2016

The Sunday Post

Asian Books Blog is based in Singapore. Usually The Sunday Post is a rojak - a Singaporean salad - of items that caught my eye the previous week. Today, though, I’m pushed for time, so things are a bit scanty. Apologies.  Hope you find the links interesting.

Seen elsewhere
Tough times for translators inBurma. From Frontier (Myanmar)

Twitter spot
Each week I make a suggestion of an interesting Twitter account you may like to follow.  This week, the SOAS China Institute, the account of the forum for Chinese-related research at SOAS, University of London, @SOAS_CI.

Thursday 14 April 2016

500 words from Ray Hecht

500 words from...is a series of guest posts from authors writing about Asia, or published by Asia-based, or Asia-focused, publishing houses, in which they talk about their latest books. Here Shenzhen-based American Ray Hecht talks about his new novel South China Morning Blues, published by Blacksmith Books based in Hong Kong. Ray’s earlier books were The Ghost of Lotus Mountain Brothel and Loser Parade. He currently writes for Shenzhen Daily, the only daily English-language newspaper in the south of mainland China.

This week in Asian Review of Books

See the Asian Review of Books for ever-interesting discussion. Here are links to its newest reviews, excerpts, letters, essays, listings, translations, announcements, news items, and round ups:


Tuesday 12 April 2016

Q & A: Anne Elizabeth Moore

Graphic novels are wildly popular in Asia, but how about comics journalism?  This mingles the techniques of graphic novels with those of investigative journalism.  Chicago-based Anne Elizabeth Moore is one of its leading proponents.  In May, she will publish Threadbare: Clothes, Sex & Trafficking, a collection of reporting, research, and art, exploring, amongst other things, how the darker side of the global fashion industry has roots in Asia.

Sunday 10 April 2016

Thursday 7 April 2016

Buku Fixi at London Book Fair

The London Book Fair (LBF) takes place next week, April 12 -14. For the first time ever, there will be a Malaysian booth showcasing independent publishers with no government or corporate funding. The country’s biggest independent publisher, the award-winning Buku Fixi, which specialises in contemporary urban fiction in both Malay and English, will be there. Moreover, the company’s English-language imprint, Fixi Novo, is to launch an ambitious new trilogy of anthologies during the Fair.

Wednesday 6 April 2016

Sunday 3 April 2016