Born in Busan, having grown up between South Korea and Canada, and currently residing in Chicago, Emily Jungmin Yoon is poetry editor for The Margins, the journal of the Asian American Writer’s Workshop. Her 2017 chapbook Ordinary Misfortunes won the Sunken Garden Poetry Prize and she published her first full length collection A Cruelty Special to Our Species in 2018. …

The ghosts and demons (yokai) of Japanese folklore represent some of the most imaginative, diverse, and strange supernatural creatures anywhere in the world. Vengeful spirits and man-eating demons; haunted furniture and the ghosts of abandoned children. Japanese ghost stories are a deep well of fantastical, terrifying wonders. Here are ten such captivating Japanese ghost stories, …

Where do you start reading an author like Kobo Abe? The post-war Japanese author and playwright has become known, most famously, as Japan’s answer to Franz Kafka. One difference between the two, however, is that Abe was able to finish his works. And of them, which ones are must-read novels? What we have here are …

Visiting Cambodia, like many Southeast Asian countries involves storytelling traditions dating back centuries. However, much of it was rarely written down, passed instead through oral tradition. Most of the literary works written down in Khmer were owned and controlled by the Royal families, or the Buddhist monks. Despite these long literary traditions, the Khmer literature …

If you’ve managed to exhaust the cultural hub that is London and are looking for an adventure that’s easy to reach and offers you even more cultural and historic activities then look no further than these easy day trips from London. Sure to satisfy any wanderer, whether they’re looking for a stroll around a quaint …

Inio Asano is a mangaka best known for being one of the manga world’s smartest and boldest creators. His series Goodnight Punpun is an oft-touted masterpiece that taps into the tragedy of growing up lost and frightened. It’s a series that represents the literary highs which manga can (and often does) achieve. But if you …

Earthlings is translated from the Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori | Published by Granta In 2018, the English translation of Convenience Store Woman, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori, was published by Granta. The book had such an intense and profound effect on me, as a reader, that it remains somewhere in my top 5 novels …

There are dozens of reasons to visit Cambridge, one of the UK’s oldest and most historic cities. Home to one of our most famous universities, Cambridge is a marvel of architecture, arts, and literature. And with all of that come a host of must-visit Cambridge bookshops. The bookshops of Cambridge are some of the most …

Visiting Melbourne and the State Library  Melbourne is the capital city of the state of Victoria in Australia, and the city is known throughout Australia and beyond for its vibrant creativity and artistic and literary culture. With world-class museums, design events, a colourful street art scene, international sporting events, local pop-up markets, and live shows, …

Many of us grew up with the Harry Potter franchise – be it the books, the films, or both. In the 90s, Harry Potter hit the world harder than any book series in history, and it’s hard to imagine a series ever making that same splash again. However, some of us (this writer included) no …