Here is a very rare kind of book that has such a weight of cultural importance that, even if it were bad (which it absolutely is not) it would still be worth buying and reading. Fortunately, beyond just being important, it’s also spectacular. Broken Stars is valuable in the scope of Chinese genre fiction. Literature …
Willow Heath
The Tale of Genji, a Japanese story written in the 11th century, is important for several reasons: it’s thought to be the world’s first true ‘novel’, it’s an historically vital peek into the world of Japanese aristocracy during the Heian period, and most importantly it was written by a woman, the lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu. The …
It’s as daunting as it is exciting to see a longlist announced and realise that you now have thirteen books you need to quickly buy and read, or risk the dreaded FOMO setting in. Instead, you can read below our five favourites – our picks for the Man Booker International 2019 shortlist (which will be …
Known as Valerie: A Novel in the US, The Faculty of Dreams is an honest-via-the-absurd tale of the woman famous for shooting Andy Warhol tells us her life story, illuminating the sad road walked by a human being who was so much more – and so much less – than a would-be killer. A Play …
The most extraordinary thing about Lanny is just how ordinary it is, even as it presents us with the story of a folk creature made of moss and dirt coming to life and hunting down a young child. In his debut novel, Grief is the Thing with Feathers, Max Porter immediately and quite incredibly cemented …
A bookstore with a name this glorious couldn’t live anywhere but Bath. One of the oldest and most architecturally beautiful little cities in all of the UK, Bath is a favourite place to visit amongst literary types. The city has a Jane Austen museum (with a gift shop), the historic Roman baths which gave the …
Translated from the Japanese by Morgan Giles Here is a Japanese novel about social outcasts and the struggling and underappreciated working class, written by a social outcast, and translated by a proud socialist. Tokyo Ueno Station provides a harsh and honest look at the ways in which twentieth-century Japan has treated its people. Yu Miri …
Across Asia, women writers are changing the literary landscape by pointing a finger at the patriarchy, by writing clever and innovative genre fiction, by highlighting their unique histories and politics, and this creating exciting and thrilling literature. Here, we have been very excited to create a list of comics and graphic novels by, who we …
When it was first announced that the epic book series Legends of the Condor Heroes known as the ‘Chinese Lord of the Rings’ was to be translated for the first time into English, I waited with bated breath for the first book to be released, translated by the impeccably talented Anna Holmwood. The book was …
Translated from the Chinese by Carlos Rojas Yan Lianke is not beloved by his own government. Like all great artists, he has the skill and the confidence to hold up a mirror to the face of his society. This face doesn’t like what it sees, and so it hides the mirror as best in can …