(Idk why I wrote this in third person. But it’s more fun that way.) * No one talks on the Shinkansen. She eats her colorful little bento and hears not a cough, not a beep of anyone’s ringtone. Quieter than every 7am subway she’s been on around the world. Outside the oval window, the countryside … Continue reading December in Japan: Vignettes
Category: Writing
Interning at Bloomberg News Pt. 1
Hi dear readers, long time no see! Realize I've broken my blogging streak for the first time in years — June whizzed past so fast I barely had time to reflect amid the journalism grind. But now that we're past midpoint of my internship, it's a good time to pop on here for some long-overdue … Continue reading Interning at Bloomberg News Pt. 1
Hong Kong International Literary Festival: Asian debut voices, Jhumpa Lahiri on linguistic exile, the politics of memory
Spent a couple of days listening to writers and journalists speak virtually on topics ranging from billenials (billionaire millennials) to translating oneself to China's navigation of collective historical traumas. I've jotted down some notes. ⬇️ First off, THANK YOU to the folks at Hong Kong International Literary Festival (HKILF) for gifting me with a media … Continue reading Hong Kong International Literary Festival: Asian debut voices, Jhumpa Lahiri on linguistic exile, the politics of memory
SWF 2020: 刘慈欣谈科学与幻想的无限可能
Back in my sophomore year, for a class on global fictions, I read Liu Cixin's The Three Body Problem and even ended up writing a paper on it: Reimagining Communities: Hospitality in The Reluctant Fundamentalist vs. The Three-Body Problem. That was my first foray into hard sci-fi. Quite stunning. Yesterday, at noon, I watched him speak at the … Continue reading SWF 2020: 刘慈欣谈科学与幻想的无限可能
SWF 2020: Zadie Smith’s Intimations
Singapore Writers Festival 2020 is happening from now till 8 Nov. 🎉Read my overview of the festival here. This is my first time hearing Zadie Smith's voice and she is just as sharp as she is on the page. Parts of what she says resonate so much it feels like she is stapling words into … Continue reading SWF 2020: Zadie Smith’s Intimations
Selina Xu 