Q & A Gregory Norminton

Gregory Norminton is an English novelist of French and Belgian extraction, who has spent time in Malaysia, Malaysian Borneo, and Cambodia. He has recently published The Ghost Who Bled, a collection of fourteen short stories that range widely in space and time. He takes the reader from medieval Byzantium and Elizabethan London, to Japan and the jungles of Malaya in the more resent past, to Edinburgh in the present-day, and on to a climate-changed San Francisco of the near future. His scope is ambitious, but he says: “I reserve the right - as all authors should, provided they do the research and are humble towards their material - to set stories in places that I have not visited. Since much of my writing is either historical or speculative, what choice do I have?”

He answered a few questions for Asian Books Blog.

New book announcement: Blood and Silk by Michael Vatikiotis

Michael Vatikiotis is a member of the Asia Society's International Council and has a decade of experience working as a conflict mediator for the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. He is a former BBC journalist who has worked in Asia for over thirty years, living in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and his current home, Singapore.

Blood and Silk: Power and Conflict in Modern Southeast Asia is in part his memoir and in part a political study of the dynamics of modern Southeast Asia, a frontline of two of the most important global conflicts: the struggle between a declining West and a rising China, and that between religious tolerance and extremism.

Southeast Asia accounts for sizeable chunks of global investment and manufacturing capacity; it straddles essential lines of trade and communication.  Whether it is mobile phone parts or clothing and accessories, Southeast Asia is a vital link in the global supply chain.

A Horse Walks Into a Bar by David Grossman wins Man Booker International Prize

A Horse Walks Into a Bar by David Grossman has won the 2017 Man Booker International Prize. The novel was translated from Hebrew by Jessica Cohen. Celebrating global fiction in translation, the Man Booker International Prize awards both the winning author and translator GBP25,000. (USD32,000 approx).

Indonesian emerging voices at Ubud

The Yayasan Mudra Swari Saraswati, a not-for-profit organisation with the mission of improving the lives of young Indonesians through literature and the arts, has announced that after after a two-year hiatus their emerging voices programme, a free, four-day event celebrating young writers, filmmakers and artists from across the Indonesian archipelago, will again be held alongside the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival, which this year runs from 26-29 October.

500 words from John Holliday

500 words from is an occasional column in which authors talk about their newly-published books.

John Holliday, an Australia-based, British-born writer, has just published Mission to China: How an Englishman Brought the West to the Orient. The book, part adventure story and part social history, examines the life of one of John’s ancestors, Walter Medhurst, a 19th century Christian missionary to Chinese communities throughout Asia, and to China itself.

John had long been aware of having an ancestor who was a famous missionary, but it was not until 2008 that he discovered an orphanage founded by this ancestor in Jakarta was still functioning. A visit to the city, and a commitment to build a library for the orphanage, prompted him to undertake research into Walter Medhurst’s life, and, ultimately, to write his biography.

Asia well represented in PEN Translates awards

PEN is an international organisation which promotes literacy and free speech around the globe. English PEN runs PEN Translates, which each year awards grants to UK-based publishers to offset the cost of translating new titles into English. It  has just announced the winners for 2017.  The list includes books translated from 14 languages and 16 countries, including a Uyghur memoir, Palestinian short stories, Somali poetry, a Czech feminist novel, an anthology of Russian women literature, Belarusian essays, a Korean novel, and a Chinese graphic novel. Female authors and translators make up more than half of the award winners.

New book announcement: Hong Kong on the Brink by Syd Goldsmith

In 1967, at the height of the Cultural Revolution, Hong Kong was rocked by a series of pro-communist riots against British colonial rule. These were so serious they threatened the colony’s existence. During the emergency, Syd Goldsmith was the American consulate general’s Hong Kong and Macau political officer – and the only white foreign service officer who spoke Cantonese. His role was to provide Washington with analysis of the unfolding drama, and to report back on the Hong Kong government’s ability to survive.  He had access to information from the CIA, a Chinese double agent, and Hong Kong Government sources.

Hong Kong on the Brink: An American diplomat relives 1967’s darkest days is his account of a simmering city, plagued by violence and strikes whilst also dealing with a crippled transport network, water-rationing, takeover threats from Beijing, and roadside bombs.