Southern California friends, I’d love to see you at this event. If the chance to hear from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ian Johnson doesn’t convince you, maybe this cool poster from Maritess Santiago at the UCI Humanities Collective will:
Read more on Where will you be on June 7?…
If you are looking for downtime reading, here are a few of my favorite, most enjoyable nonfiction choices from my reviews for Zócalo Public Square:
While I am working on, well, all the different things I am working on, I am excited to be a part of two upcoming events in Southern California. One is a UCLA Extension writing seminar, “Writing in the Digital Age” on May 8. On June 7, I’ll be in conversation with Ian Johnson at UC Irvine, an event hosted by The China Beat, about his new book on the Muslim Brotherhood and his work in China.
Here’s the published blurbs about these events, but let me know if you want more information or if you have thoughts about what we should cover:
One of the best feelings I have as a writer is when something I’ve worked on sparks a conversation I could have never even imagined. That’s why I was so thrilled to find this post at the China Beat:
Learning from Lai Changxing?
Last year, Angilee Shah wrote a review at China Beat of Oliver August’s Inside the Red Mansion. The review inspired Simon Fraser University Professor Jeremy Brown to assign the text to a class and he recently invited the book’s protaganist, Lai Changxing, to join his class for a day. Brown and one of his students provide an account of the day’s visit below…
I enjoy writing book reviews, but it never occurred to me that readers might take any action other than a trip to their local library or bookstore. It certainly never occurred to me that Lai might agree to being questioned by a classroom full of students. I only wish I could have been there. Read more on Writing is Rewarding…
Anka Lee on the Star Ferry in Hong Kong
It’s June 4th today. 20 years ago, in Tiananmen Square in Beijing a huge protest movement was violently suppressed. The numbers are disputed, but hundreds, if not thousands were killed in clashes with the military. Tiananmen Square Massacre, June 4 Incident, or just Six-Four — whatever you call it, the event had a big impact on Anka Lee. He was just a kid then, but he remembers the day well. He was born in Hong Kong and was nine years old that summer in 1989. He talks about his memories and the city where he was born in this episode of Global Lives.
Read more on Global Lives #3: Anka Lee’s Hong Kong Perspective on Tiananmen Square…
I’m starting a weekly post that rehashes some of the most interesting and unusual reports on Asia (in English) and the world. Let me know what you think, and if you find this kind of feature useful. For more interesting things on the web, from newspapers and blogs, see my shared stories page.
I’ve been a loyal reader of Tim Johnson’s McClatchy Newspapers blog, China Rises, since it started three years ago. It’s only today that I thought about it, though, because Johnson is leaving the blog behind. He writes:
Read more on the China bloggers post…
After visiting grand Shanghai and glittering Chongqing, it was in a taxi in Dongguan that my view of China took a small, but important shift. I was traveling with a friend to the South China Mall, down the main road that stretches from the city’s train station all the way out to the suburbs. It was Olympics time, but we were a far cry from Beijing’s impressive Bird’s Nest.
Read more on good feelings and the Olympics…
The China Beat just ran an email interview I did with Louisa Lim, the dynamic Shanghai correspondent for National Public Radio, formerly of the BBC. My favorite part?
When we arrived at their office, their faces fell. We sat around, drinking tea and waiting. In the next room, we could hear the government officials conferring with each other worriedly, “What’s the BBC doing?”, they were asking. “Do you think these are real reporters? They look more like kids on work experience.”
Read more on NPR correspondence by email and me in print…
When I was at the Pusan International Film Festival in Korea, I went to a hotel on the beach to meet a documentary filmmaker from Beijing. I was very impressed by his film, Who Killed Our Children.
Read more on The best reporting on the Sichuan Earthquake you’ll never see…
