BRIANNA HIRAMI WRITES — You may have been able to guess by the eerie-looking bunny presented in inverted colors on the cover that this tale is anything but light and happy. Bora Chung’s fascinating and unique short story collection, Cursed Bunny, displays the most disturbing truths about the nature of…
Full Article BOOK REVIEW: CURSED BUNNY (2021) BY BORA CHUNG
ALEC FARMER WRITES — Home does not denote a solely physical space. It represents memories, both good and bad. Experiences with family, friends, and passing acquaintances are associated with the place these events occurred in. For this reason, locations are special to someone because of their shared history. This duality between…
Full Article BOOK REVIEW: DRAGONFLY EYES (2021) – THE CONNECTIONS OF FAMILY AND SPACE
ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – Consider, for a moment, that food is not simply fuel, but rather each component to a meal contains a piece of living-giving energy. “Each grain [of rice]”, as author and translator Winifred Bird describes, “was thought to have a soul, and for many centuries people believed…
Full Article BOOK REVIEW: EATING WILD JAPAN: TRACKING THE CULTURE OF FORAGED FOODS WITH A GUIDE TO PLANTS AND RECIPES (2021) BY WINIFRED BIRD
Disclaimer: To protect the privacy of the subjects of this article, the names of the interviewees have been changed. AIDAN SMITH-FAGAN WRITES — “It was a very atypical afternoon soccer game.” Will remembers the hushed tones in the voices of parents on the sidelines. It was unusually quiet and “parents…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN: THE STORY OF THE FOREVER WAR, TOLD BY MEN WHO SERVED THERE
TOM PLATE WRITES — According to newspaper reports, on arrival in Washington Mr Qin Gang’s public tone seemed sort of chipper; and further, in the wake of his initial greet-and-meet with US officials, there surfaced simmering new communications between the US and China. Given the alarm with which many westerners…
Full Article SINO-US RELATIONS: IS THE EUPHORIA OVER CHINA’S NEW WASHINGTON AMBASSADOR JUSTIFIED AMID THE DREARY DIPLOMATIC REALITIES?
ANDREA PLATE WRITES — Forget about Naomi Osaka, for a moment. For all the whining-and-dining out by the press on the tennis superstar’s mental health struggles, and her difficulty facing their not-so-friendly post-game fire, she is, after all, just one international superstar. One. Forget, too, about Britney Spears, if you…
Full Article JAPAN, KOREA, AMERICA: CAN YOUNG SUPERSTARS THE WORLD OVER EVER BE HAPPY?
BRIANNA HIRAMI WRITES — Choi Jin-Young’s To The Warm Horizon (2021) captivates its readers by revealing the dark and difficult truth surrounding human nature. However, we come to understand that there is often love and glimpses of hope throughout periods of complete chaos. This page-turning novel starts off by briskly and…
Full Article BOOK REVIEW: TO THE WARM HORIZON BY CHOI JIN-YOUNG
ALEC FARMER WRITES — What are the similarities between a revolution and love? In Yan Lianke’s Hard Like Water (2021), Gao Aijun sees these two disparate concepts as one and the same. Aijun is, on the one hand, deeply committed to the Chinese Cultural Revolution and the words of Mao…
Full Article BOOK REVIEW: HARD LIKE WATER (2021) – THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOVE AND REVOLUTION
ELLA KELLEHER WRITES — Beijing’s Bell and Drum Towers stand one in front of the other, the Drum Tower in front with red walls and grey tiles and the Bell Tower behind with gray walls and green tiles. These two obelisks have watched over the bustling city for centuries like…
Full Article BOOK REVIEW: THE WEDDING PARTY (2021) BY LIU XINWU
ANGELINE KEK WRITES — How would you feel living in an 80-year-old’s body as a teenager? What would you do if you knew your days were numbered? How would you like to be remembered? My Brilliant Life (2021) by Korean author Ae-ran Kim follows a 16-year-old boy named Areum with…
Full Article BOOK REVIEW: MY BRILLIANT LIFE (2021) BY AE-RAN KIM
Introduction to LGBTQ organizations in Asia Podcast Transcript: 00:00 Cristina Pedler: Hello, everyone. Thanks for tuning in to Asia media review brought to you by Asia media international publication from Loyola Marymount University. Today during our very first intro episode, we’re going to tell you what we’re all about…
Full Article PODCAST: SETTING UP THE ASIA MEDIA REVIEW
TOM PLATE WRITES — The agony in Afghanistan makes for many sorrows. Beyond the scenes of chaos at Kabul airport is the unseen anguish of all those US veterans back home who are dealing with various psychological and physical traumas and are now especially unproud of their country; of families…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN AND BEYOND: CHINA MUST LEARN FROM US HUBRIS AND BLUNDERS
KIANA KARIMI WRITES – “Who lives, who dies, who tells your stories?” The refrain from the American Musical Hamilton encapsulates the fears of Afghans as the Taliban once again usurped power. A crescendo of terror stupefied all as the Taliban quickly bludgeoned their way to Kabul following the withdrawal of…
Full Article AFGHANISTAN: THE WITHDRAWAL WAS A MESS. BUT BIDEN’S SUDDEN MOVE IS MORE RIGHT THAN WRONG
BRIANNA HIRAMI WRITES — Cho Nam-Joo’s eye opening novel, Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, displays how South Korea’s demoralizing rules and societal norms negatively affect the lives of Korean women. This straightforward novel wastes no time by jumping right into Kim Jiyoung’s, the protagonist’s, story about how sexism casually dictates the lives…
Full Article BOOK REVIEW: KIM JIYOUNG, BORN 1982 (2021) BY CHO NAM-JOO
NELLY CARRILLO WRITES — The pandemic has undoubtedly changed the way average citizens go about their life. Additionally, we see significant changes in the way countries govern themselves across the globe. These special circumstances allow elected officials to use different methods to govern and it also allows them to keep…
Full Article SOUTHEAST ASIA: HOW COVID-19 TRANSFORMS GOVERNING
ALEC FARMER WRITES – Monkey King: Journey to the West (2021) is a translation of one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese Literature. The book has its origin in China’s Ming dynasty from author Wu Cheng’en, and since its inception, the story of Sun Wukong, Tang Sanzang, and…
Full Article MONKEY KING: JOURNEY TO THE WEST (2021) – TRANSLATING A CHINESE CLASSIC FOR A CONTEMPORARY AUDIENCE