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Kirsten Han’s ‘The Singapore That I Recognise’ Provides a Personal Account of Singaporean Activism Today

·December 2, 2023·2 min read

Kirsten Han’s The Singapore That I Recognise provides a glimpse of Singaporean civil society activism in recent years. The book stands out not only as a personal account of Han’s own journey as a journalist and activist, but also with regards to what it shows about Singapore today Read More

心得：《疫病與社會的十個關鍵詞》

Books Chinese Life

·October 1, 2021·1 min read

劉紹華是一名醫療人類學學者，長年在中國與臺灣研究衛生管理。從2002年起，她在中國四川涼山以民族誌方式研究涼山彞族的愛滋、毒品與流動青年的現象，深入分析社會變遷與國家衛生政策的關係。劉紹華從她對愛滋病與麻風的研究而深知，疫病、污名歧視、人權以及政治的互相關聯。在2020年出版的書籍《疫病與社會的十個關鍵詞》裡，她從正在肆虐全球的COVID-19疫情切入，以多年積累的知識提醒讀者，這一波疫情所引發社會、人權及政治的困境與爭執，並非新穎之事，反而是歷史中反覆再現的問題。劉紹華舉各種例子描述在面對疫情的過程中，不可淡忘的歷史教訓。本書的特點在於，剖析國家所採取的、看似理所當然的政策，如「防疫大作戰」等口號標語或高舉前線醫療人員為「道德模範」，探討其未料的後果，以及其掩蓋社會基層問題的企圖。 Read More

A Refreshing, Elucidating Take on Tsai Ming-liang’s Oeuvre

Books English

·January 18, 2023·3 min read

Cruisy, Sleepy, Melancholy: Sexual Disorientation in the Films of Tsai Ming-liang by Nicholas de Villiers is a strong entry in the English-language literature on one of Taiwan’s most distinguished contemporary filmmakers Read More

Why Are Tankies So Upset About Taiwan Travelogue?

Books English Life

·June 8, 2026·2 min read

Online Chinese nationalists, a number of whom see themselves as on the left, are having a moment about Taiwan Travelogue. Taiwan Travelogue recently made history as the first Mandarin language novel, as well as the first Taiwanese novel, to win the International Booker Prize Read More

An Attempt to Revive Marx’s Workers’ Inquiry

Books English Life

·June 22, 2021·3 min read

Workers’ Inquiry and Global Class Struggle: Strategies, Tactics, Objectives, edited by Robert Ovetz, is an ambitious book Read More

Chris Horton’s “Ghost Nation” Examines Taiwan’s Neglected History

Books English

·August 9, 2025·2 min read

Chris Horton's Ghost Nation is a comprehensive take on Taiwan’s history from a pan-Green perspective. In this sense, the book can be situated alongside other histories of Taiwan published for a general audience that have been published in past years Read More

Book Review: The People, No: A Brief History of Anti-Populism

Books English Life

·February 9, 2021·5 min read

In 2016, Trump shocked liberal Democrats. They should not have been shocked. It takes a certain level of ignorance and magic thinking to believe in their candidate at the time. Hilary Clinton, after all, is the spouse of a president whose trade policies were largely responsible for the closing of factories and deindustrialization of the nation Read More

Syaman Rapongan’s “Eyes of the Ocean” Proves Rare Example of Taiwanese Indigenous Literature in English

Books English

·August 29, 2025·2 min read

Syaman Rapongan's Eyes of the Ocean proves a rare opportunity to glimpse the accomplished Taiwanese Indigenous writer’s work in English. In this sense, Eyes of the Ocean is one of the rare works of Taiwanese Indigenous literature translated into English to date Read More

Interview: Charles Yu

Books English Interviews Life

·January 19, 2021·8 min read

New Bloom/No Man is an Island editor Brian Hioe spoke to writer Charles Yu about his recent book, Interior Chinatown, which recently won the National Book Award Read More

A Powerful Look at the Hopes, Fears, and Bravery of Hong Kong Demonstrators: A Review of “Among the Braves”

Books English

·November 21, 2023·2 min read

Among the Braves, by Shibani Mahtani and Timothy McLaughlin, is a gripping, powerful narrative of the events surrounding the 2019 Hong Kong protests Read More

Democratic Experiments in Action

Books English Life

·September 24, 2021·3 min read

Deliberative Democracy in Taiwan: A Deliberate Systems Perspective by Mei-Fang Fan is a useful look at contemporary democracy in the Taiwanese context. Read More

“A Taiwanese Ecoliterature Reader” Shows the Subject of Taiwan As It Emerges in Translation

Books English

·December 28, 2025·1 min read

A Taiwanese Ecoliterature Reader edited by Ian Rowen, Ti-Han Chang, and Darryl Sterk, proves a useful look at the literary imagination of nature in contemporary Taiwanese literature Read More