The Taipei Chinese PEN—A Quarterly Journal of Contemporary Chinese Literature from Taiwan《中華民國筆會英文季刊─台灣文譯》 Winter/2022 - No. 203 by Taipei Chinese PENMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Once again, this edition of the Chinese Taipei Pen is an interesting collection of Taiwanese poetry, short stories and artists.
"Preface to Temperature from a Bachelor", by Wang Ting-chun (王鼎鈞) had some interesting insight into how/why the names of publications can change, and the overall effects.
"Tea from Hong Kong", by Hung Ai-zhu, was a sort of memoir. It felt like an outsider's glimpse into the memories and childhood of a Taiwanese girl running a tea shop with ties to Hong Kong. It was excellent. She has a collection of essays out, which I'd be interested in reading.
Living Apart, by Chen Shu-Yao, seemed to jump around between characters and was very hard to follow for not much reward. It's too bad because I thinks he's the only author I know from Penghu.
The Fates, by Claire Pei, was an interesting, if troublesome, story about a Chinese in Alaska, why she was there and her situation while living there, as well as why she doesn't want to leave. This was my favorite short story of the book. The story also has an interesting addendum, although I admit I felt like she added it so the story would seem less autobiographical(?)
This edition's featured artist was Sun Ta-chuan (Paelabang Danapan) and indigenous writer of Chinese calligraphy and sayings, as well as a sketch artist.
View all my reviews
