In Homage to the first Buddhist translators, and Martha Cheung

Nicky Harman on “Buddhism” a wonderful exhibition in London’s British Library displaying Buddhist art and literature from all over East Asia.

 All pictures are my own from the exhibition, 

unless otherwise captioned

As a translator, I have what you could call a professional interest in Buddhist texts translated into Chinese. This may sound odd, because I can’t understand their meaning, let alone critique them as translations. But I am always moved when I see the crystal-clear calligraphy of the sutras, first written down in Chinese fifteen hundred years ago or more, and yet completely familiar today. So I visited the exhibition hoping to find out more about some of my favourite translators. 

Despite Global Health Warnings, Travellers’ Tales – and Events - Must Continue To be Told and Experienced

Lion City Lit By Ken Hickson

Travel is on our mind and in our readings. And while we don’t usually include poets, plays or painters, where there’s a stretched Singapore angle and a very good literary (or publishing) reason, why not.

When Singapore, like dozens of other countries, is being plagued by the nasty coronavirus, which is stopping some people from holding events -  including theatre and book launches -  we must not just revert to shutting ourselves away to read books, but enjoy a play or a reading when we can.

So Singapore theatre goers can still experience a very localised version of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest (by Wild Rice);  The Lifespan of a Fact – based on an actual event in New York – presented by Singapore Repertory Theatre; then there’s Florian Zeller’s The Son, performed by Pangdemonium. If that’s not enough to go on or go to, there’s National Theatre’s War Horse, based on the novel by Michael Morpurgo, or even more remotely connected is J.B. Priestley’s 1945 drama, An Inspector Calls, being staged by Wild Rice.

As seen elsewhere...

https://asianreviewofbooks.com/content/the-door-was-open-by-karine-khodikyan/#more-7670

Japanese Destroyer Captain - A Memoir of The Pacific War

Japanese Destroyer Captain is the postwar memoir of Tameichi Hara, a Japanese Navy officer who earned the nickname the “Miracle Captain.” He is one of the only Japanese captains to have survived the entire Pacific War from its beginning in 1941 to its end in 1945. Of the 175 destroyers the Imperial Navy possessed during World War II, 129 were sunk.

Tsundoku #11 (The All Fiction Special)

2020 is shaping up as a record year for books by Asian and Asian diaspora writers in the world of fiction as well as a bumper crop of non-fiction on the region. So without further ado let’s find some additions to your 2020 tsundoku pile…This January/February I'm focussing on the fiction…

Indie Spotlight - Goddesses of Japan

In Indie Spotlight this month, Kazuko Nishimura tells us about her Goddesses of the World series. Historical fiction from Japan with a mythical theme. Over to Kazuko...

The Goddesses of Japan, is Book One of the Goddesses of World Series.. It is set in Japan and covers the narratives of its Creation to the modernisation in the Nineteenth Century, when the country comes out from the self-imposed seclusion. It is sold on Amazon.