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.
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