Filip Noubel

Turning research into art: Graphic novel on Chinese migrant women in Taiwan - Focus Taiwan The idea of turning a 240-page, text-heavy doctoral dissertation into a graphic novel came to sociologist Beatrice Zani when she realized that the findings of her English-language thesis were largely ...

#migration The #graphicnovel "Women, Bras and Chicken Feet: The Journey of 'Made in #China'," revolves around the protagonist, Fujin, a young Chinese woman who moves to #Taipei with her #Taiwanese husband to start a new life." focustaiwan.tw/culture/2026... @vivianwu.bsky.social

Writing from the Margins | China Books Review From Tibet to Taiwan, Yunnan to yonder, we recommend five Spring Festival reads with a focus on the periphery.

#Taiwan #Tibet #Uyghur "Literature thrives on the margins, and these five titles will transport you across a changing landscape." #China chinabooksreview.com/2026/02/24/w... @vivianwu.bsky.social

'Taiwan Travelogue' longlisted for International Booker Prize - Focus Taiwan Yang Shuang-zi's (楊双子) "Taiwan Travelogue" (臺灣漫遊錄) has been longlisted for the International Booker Prize for translated fiction, the award's organizers announced Tuesday (U.K. time).

#bookerprize "Yang Shuang-zi's #楊双子 #Taiwan Travelogue #臺灣漫遊錄) has been longlisted for the International Booker Prize for translated fiction. The novel tells the story of a same-sex romance between a Japanese author and her local interpreter in 1930s Taiwan." focustaiwan.tw/culture/2026...

Linking 2 #literary cities #Tainan #台南 #Prague, 2 gifted authors #HuangChongkai #黃崇凱 and #RadkaDenemarkova for a discussion on the power and need of literature to be absolutely political in the best sense of the word. Live on Feb 25 #台灣文學研究所 #台灣文學博物館 #Czechliterature #Taiwanliterature

“My Hands Can Kill Fish and Write Stories”: Syaman Rapongan’s Return to Orchid Island｜Culture｜2026-02-18｜web only After years in Taipei chasing education and belonging, Tao writer Syaman Rapongan returned to Orchid Island to rebuild boats, spear fish, and anchor his writing in the sea and mountains of his homelan...

#Taiwan #Indigenous #literature "Syaman began to recognize how the urban dream of becoming an intellectual had pulled him further and further from his community and the sea." english.cw.com.tw/article/arti...

How Writing My Books Helped Me Understand My Chinese Parents I was one of those: a rebellious teenager with traditional Chinese parents. I chafed at my father’s strictness, at his expectations of absolute obedience, his insistence on perfect grades. I ran in…

#China #Diaspora lit "Many tidbits from ancestral stories found their way into my novels but it was research that did the most to fill the blanks when it came to understanding my parents. For my debut novel, one research topic was about #QuQiubai." lithub.com/how-writing-... @vivianwu.bsky.social

Taiwanese poet Un Jiok-kiâu turns Taigi poetry into a bestseller - Focus Taiwan For decades, Taiwanese (Taigi) poetry was widely seen as commercially unviable. Then Un Jiok-kiâu (温若喬) rewrote the script.

#Taiwan literature "For decades, Taiwanese (Taigi) poetry was widely seen as commercially unviable. Then Un Jio̍k-kiâu (温若喬) rewrote the script." focustaiwan.tw/culture/2026...

from Travels in Ecuador - Asymptote By the Shore of Silver Lake: Present Life—Ecuadorian Journey (II)I hung up the phone and let out a sigh of relief.My friend Marco wasn’t home, so I left a message with his father. At least...

#Taiwan literature #Ecuador #SanMao #三毛 #萬水千山走遍 "Traversing Myriad Rivers and Mountains remains among the most widely read Chinese-language accounts of #LatinAmerica" #AsymptoteJournal www.asymptotejournal.com/nonfiction/t... @vivianwu.bsky.social

How China’s Independent Bookstores Survive | China Books Review Even as restrictions tighten in Beijing, independent bookstores in Chengdu have flourished — showing how offline community and public debate can thrive. But it’s hard.

Last islands of free thinking in #China's bookstores: "There is no need to live in #Beijing anymore. The interesting people have all gone abroad or moved back to their home region." chinabooksreview.com/2026/01/29/b... @vivianwu.bsky.social @chinabooksreview.com

Love by accident: A South Korean translator's commitment to Taiwan literature - Focus Taiwan "I was a foreign wanderer when I came to Taiwan a year ago," Kim Tae-sung quipped, reflecting on a transition that was as unexpected as it was deliberate.

"Soon to turn 67 in mid-February, Kim has translated more than 20 books by #Taiwanese authors into #Korean, establishing himself as the preeminent conduit for Taiwanese #translation in #SouthKorea." focustaiwan.tw/culture/2026...

{𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐓} 𝐀 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠

We're very pleased to announce that we have formed a collaboration with the Leeds Centre for New Chinese Writing to republish selected reviews of translated titles from their platform.

⧉ chajournal.com/2026/02/03/l...

Translator Karin Betz introduces Taiwanese literature to German readers - Focus Taiwan German veteran translator Karin Betz, currently translating the award-winning Taiwanese novel "Taiwan Travelogue" (台灣漫遊錄), has spent decades bringing Taiwanese and Chinese literature to German readers...

"German veteran #translator Karin Betz, currently translating the award-winning Taiwanese novel "#Taiwan Travelogue" #台灣漫遊錄, has spent decades bringing Taiwanese and Chinese literature to German readers." focustaiwan.tw/culture/2026...

Hong Kong’s Independent Bookstores Fight to Keep the Lights On｜International｜2026-01-27｜web only Since 2019, as media outlets have shuttered and street slogans have faded into silence, a handful of independent bookstores have emerged against the odds. Why have they chosen this path amid such hist...

#Bookstore resistance in #Hongkong "Since 2019, as media outlets have shuttered and street slogans have faded into silence, a handful of independent bookstores have emerged against the odds." english.cw.com.tw/article/arti... @vivianwu.bsky.social

New China Books: Resolute Reading | China Books Review Resolving to read more in 2026? We have you covered with five recommendations, from an essay collection of Tibet to a colloquial history of China’s hot-button issues.

#China #Tibet "recent titles worthy reading from a reported account of Chinese scammers in Southeast Asia and a narrative of Catholic resurgence in the 1980s, to an academic study of revolutionary emotion after Mao". chinabooksreview.com/2026/01/13/n... @vivianwu.bsky.social

Best China Books of 2025 | China Books Review Identity issues. Migrant stories. Company profiles. Lost daughters. Daddy issues. Our annual round-up of notable books on or from China, nonfiction and literature, nominated by experts.

#China fiction+non-fiction #translation "Identity issues. Migrant stories. Company profiles. Lost daughters. Daddy issues. Round-up of notable books on or from China, nonfiction and literature, nominated by experts." chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/18/b... @vivianwu.bsky.social

Chinese Horror with Xueting C. Ni | China Books Review Horror writing has an unsavory reputation in China, but comes with a long history and is full of biting social commentary. The translator of a recent collection explains what lurks beneath.

Social commentary on #China's society "Horror fiction if that is the best term for it — is a genre that readers might associate less with China, yet it stretches back centuries and is just as alive and kicking today." chinabooksreview.com/2026/01/06/e... @vivianwu.bsky.social @chinabooksreview.com

Translated Chinese Literature: New Fiction | China Books Review 2025 has seen a bumper crop for Chinese literature in translation. We recommend five recent titles, from gritty tales of the northeast to conjoined fiction from Hong Kong.

"2025 has seen a bumper crop for #Chineseliterature in #translation. We recommend 5 titles, from gritty tales of the northeast to conjoined fiction from #HongKong." chinabooksreview.com/2025/12/09/t... @vivianwu.bsky.social @chinabooksreview.com

My long interview on #Taiwan identity and relations with the #CzechRepublic for the #French service of #Czech state radio. francais.radio.cz/taiwan-la-cr... @radiopraguefr.bsky.social @vivianwu.bsky.social

What China's Reading: Books from the Sinosphere | China Books Review Five new books from the wider world of sinophone literature, including a Taiwanese book on Covid quarantine and a Malaysian Chinese memoir of loss.

"5 titles by authors from the broader #sinosphere. #HongKong #Taiwan #Malaysia #China #US : stories about our interconnected world." chinabooksreview.com/2025/11/18/w... @vivianwu.bsky.social

Migrant workers, new immigrants honored at literature award in Taipei - Focus Taiwan Migrant workers and new immigrants were celebrated Sunday at Taipei Main Station for their contributions to Taiwan's literary landscape, with many awardees using the moment to express both their grati...

" #migrant workers and new immigrants were celebrated for their contributions to #Taiwan's literary landscape at 10th Taiwan Literature Award for Migrants." #tagalog #vietnam focustaiwan.tw/society/2025...

Doctor, author Chen Yao-chang dies at 76 - Focus Taiwan Chen Yao-chang (陳耀昌), the physician who performed Taiwan's first bone marrow transplant and the author of the historical novel "Puppet Flower" (傀儡花), has died at the age of 76.

"#Chen Yao-chang #陳耀昌 was recognized as a novelist devoted to #Taiwanese history, with "Puppet Flower: A Novel of 1867 Formosa." recounts the Rover Incident between Indigenous groups and an American merchant ship, which escalated into further conflict." focustaiwan.tw/culture/2025...

Yu Hua: Fictional Cities | China Books Review The bestselling Chinese novelist foregrounds individual suffering in the chaos of modern Chinese history. In his latest novel in translation, gratuitous violence shows the limits of fiction.

A new #translation of a #余华 novel:"To reject Mao-era revolutionary realism and romanticism, #YuHua wrote surreal fiction. His phantasmagoric stories generally avoid direct mention of politics, but they perform political work." chinabooksreview.com/2025/10/30/f... #文城 #土匪文学 @vivianwu.bsky.social

Translations: As Tributes Pour In, Chengdu’s You Xing Bookstore Gets a Reprieve From Feared Closure Following more than a week of speculation that Chengdu’s You Xing Bookstore (有杏书店, Yǒu Xìng Shūdiàn) would soon close, amid an outpouring of tributes from customers and supporters, it appears that the...

Intellectual resistance in #China: "Following speculation #Chengdu’s Youxing Bookstore #有杏书店 would close, amid tributes from supporters, it appears the bookstore and events space has been granted a reprieve and will remain in business." chinadigitaltimes.net/2025/11/tran... @vivianwu.bsky.social

Time Tunnel Now in English for the first time, stories about love, sex, and migration by “China's Virginia Woolf.”

"Time Tunnel offers a new selection of stories and essays, some translated for the first time into English, drawn from every stage of the career of the great Chinese writer #EileenChang" #張愛玲 #chineseliterature #translation www.nyrb.com/products/tim... @vivianwu.bsky.social

Taiwanese novelist Yang Shuang-zi to embark on India speaking tour - Focus Taiwan Taiwanese novelist Yang Shuang-zi (楊双子) will give three talks in India in November, including one at the influential Mumbai LitFest, under the theme "Taiwan-India Literary Dialogue: The Indian Journey...

#Taiwan's novelist Yang Shuang-zi #楊双子 will give talks in India in November, including at the #MumbaiLitFest, under the theme "Taiwan #India Literary Dialogue." focustaiwan.tw/culture/2025... #literature #translation #台灣漫遊錄

Between Taiwanese and Mandarin: Translation as a Test of Allegiance During my first semester of teaching in Taiwan, I was in the middle of a lesson on “Monsters and Ghosts” when a student’s hand shot up. His question was not really related to the content: “Teacher,…

#Taiwan #translation "I was compelled by the idea of translation as a test of my allegiances. But this metaphor is far from how I actually experience the process. Unlike a test, there is no right answer or a way to “pass” in translation, which is an art of compromise". lithub.com/between-chin...

No Country for a Woman | China Books Review Women in China have suffered abuse, silencing and erasure — despite the Communist Party’s slogans about women’s liberation. Two novels by the Wuhan writer Fang Fang show how gendered oppression persis...

"The heroine resists the deliberate silence and forced erasure that has plagued countless #women in #China. As #FangFang writes, generations of Chinese women have been rendered voiceless by the patriarchy." #方方 #Chineseliterature chinabooksreview.com/2025/10/09/f...

An interview with László Krasznahorkai - Asymptote Hungarian novelist László Krasznahorkai's literary signature is his disenchantment with the period, “the dot” that he considers “an artificial border between sentences.&#82...

A 2016 interview with #LaszloKrasznahorkai www.asymptotejournal.com/interview/an... #AsymptoteJournal #Nobel #literature

László Krasznahorkai - Words Without Borders László Krasznahorkai is the recipient of the 2019 National Book Award for Translated Literature, the 2015 Man Booker International Prize, and the 2013 Best Translated Book Award in Fiction.

OH WOW! Congratulations to our contributor, László Krasznahorkai, for winning the 2025 Nobel Prize in Literature!!! 😍🥳
wordswithoutborders.org/.../view/lsz...

Tunnel of Forking Paths: On Can Xue’s Dystopian Moral Fable, Mystery Train - Asymptote Blog For the author, the deconstruction of language allows her to explore themes close to her oeuvre, but also to her personal experience.

Resharing my article about #CanXue given #NobelPrize #literature rumors - would be amazing indeed! #Chineseliterature #残雪 www.asymptotejournal.com/blog/2023/01... @vivianwu.bsky.social