Indie Spotlight: Nicki Chen

Indie Spotlight is our monthly column on self-publishing. This month Siobhan Daiko interviews Nicki Chen about her debut novel, Tiger Tail Soup: a novel of China at war.  When the first bombs fall, An Lee is pregnant and her husband is missing. He won't be home for another seven years. It's up to An Lee to protect her family. Surrounded by the Japanese military, An Lee struggles to survive, enduring hunger, loneliness, and fear. Then, on December 7, 1941, the enemy invades and occupies their little island on the coast of China, and An Lee's strength is put to the test…

The Sunday Post

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

Seen Elsewhere: Discussion Of The Man Booker Shortlist

I wanted to give links to coverage of the Man Booker shortlist by publications within Asia - but it seems to have received very little coverage in our part of the globe. But here are a couple of pieces you may find interesting.

Is this the most diverse lineup ever?: The Guardian (UK)

Doom and gloom make the cut: International Business Times (headquartered in the USA.)

If you want to follow the betting odds click here.

Jackie Collins Dies

It has just been announced that Jackie Collins, the internationally bestselling author of Hollywood tales, who was particularly successful in the 1980s, has died overnight of breast cancer. See here for coverage by People magazine -  no doubt many more obituaries and tributes will appear today. 

Blog Spot

Each week I invite the administrator of a relevant and interesting-sounding blog to write a paragraph. This week, nobody has been in touch, and so there is no Blog Spot. A pity. 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, please get in touch, preferably via e-mail -asianbooksblog@gmail.com. Thanks. If you don't run a relevant blog, but you know somebody who does, perhaps you could pass the message on?  Again, thanks.

Twitter Spot

Each week I make a suggestion of an interesting Twitter account you may like to follow.  This week, Asia House, @asiahouseuk.  Asia House is based in London. Its mission is to bring the UK and Asia closer through business, policy, politics, arts and cultural events. It hosts an annual literary festival, and is active in promoting literature of Asian interest.

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

Lion City Lit: We Rose Up Slowly by Jon Gresham

Asian Books Blog is based in Singapore. Lion City Lit explores what’s going on in the City-State, lit-wise. Here Jon Gresham talks about We Rose Up Slowly, his debut collection of short stories, published by Math Paper Press, a local publishing house dedicated to promoting poetry and literary fiction. It is run by the same people who run BooksActually, an independent book shop which is well-known in Singapore.

Just Quickly

The Man Booker Prize for fiction 2015 shortlist is revealed here. 

Published Today: Dancing Through Red Dust by Murong Xuecun

About the book

Dancing Through Red Dust tells the story of lawyer Wei Da, who is forced to go on the run after an accident leaves his girlfriend’s blackmailing ex-lover dead. He destroys evidence, hides his assets and plans to flee China but his desperate bid for freedom ends in anguish when he is arrested and sent to the notorious Cao River Remand Centre.

This Week in Asian Review of Books

See the Asian Review of Books for ever-interesting discussion. Here is a list of its newest reviews, excerpts, letters, essays, and round ups:

3 Parallel Artworlds: 100 Art Things from Chinese Modern History, Chang Tsong-Zung and Gao Shiming, editors reviewed by Eric Wear
Sikkim: Requiem for a Himalayan Kingdom by Andrew Duff reviewed by Sinead Ferris
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan reviewed by Peter Gordon
Japanese Literature: From Murasaki to Murakami by Marvin Marcus reviewed by Todd Shimoda
Outside reading: links to essays and articles on India, Indonesia, China 
The Raj at War: A People’s History of India’s Second World War by Yasmin Khan reviewed by Nigel Collett
Out to Work: Migration, Gender, and the Changing Lives of Rural Women in Contemporary China by Arianne M Gaetano reviewed by SY Koh
The Burden of Being Burmese, Poems by Ko Ko Thett reviewed by Peter Gordon
Modern Ink: The Art of Xugu by Chen Siyuan, Craig L. Yee, Jung Ying Tsao and edited by Britta Erickson with J. May Lee Barrett reviewed by Juan Jose Morales

The Sunday Post

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