Gossip. Rumour. Revenge. Wun Wah Tower. Kwun Tong district, Hong Kong. When Siu-Man jumped from her window on the twenty-second floor, everyone assumed it was suicide. But Sui-Man's sister, Nga-Yee, a quiet and unassuming librarian, is determined to prove it was murder. The police aren't interested in re-opening a solved case so she contacts a man known only as N. - a hacker, and an expert in cybersecurity and manipulating human behaviour. What follows is a cat-and-mouse game through the vibrant city of Hong Kong. The pair's investigation takes them from creepy commuter-train gropers to Siu-Man's gossipy friends to the dark corners of the city's digital underground - where online bullies, sexual predators and shady tech businesses stalk their prey... Reviews for Second Sister: 'An elaborate plot' New York Times 'Moves at a breathtaking pace and, with its bounty of high-tech hazard, excites like a vintage Tom Clancy novel' Wall Street Journal 'An important, multidimensional and even educational read into the dangers of cyber bullying' The Straits Times 'Sharp-witted and intense ... Dangerous feuds, cybertheft, and a predator stalking Hong Kong' Booklist

A unique anthology bringing together stories of queer life from international playwrights, these seven plays showcase the dazzling multiplicity of queer narratives across the globe: the absurd, the challenging, and the joyful. From the legacy of colonialism in India to the farcical bureaucracy of marriage law in Kosovo; from a school counsellor in Taiwan coming out as HIV+, to coming of age in an Israel-Palestine coexistence camp, this is a genre-spanning collection of global writing. Contempt by Danish Sheikh (India) 55 Shades of Gay by Jeton Neziraj, translated by Alexandra Channer (Kosovo) No Matter Where I Go by Amahl Khouri (Jordan) Only the End of the World by Jean-Luc Lagarce, translated by Lucie Tiberghien (France) Taste of Love by Zhan Jie, translated by Jeremy Tiang (Taiwan) Peace Camp Org by Mariam Bazeed (Egypt) Winter Animals by Santiago Loza, translated by Samuel Buggeln and Ariel Gurevitch (Argentina) Originally selected and performed as part of the Arcola Queer Collective's Global Queer Plays call-out event.

In Taiwanese writer Lo Yi-Chin's Faraway, a fictionalized version of the author finds himself stranded in mainland China attempting to bring his comatose father home. Lo's father had fled decades ago, abandoning his first family to start a new life in Taiwan. After travel between the two countries becomes politically possible, he returns to visit the son he left behind, only to suffer a stroke. The middle-aged protagonist ventures to China, where he embarks on a protracted struggle with the byzantine hospital regulations while dealing with relatives he barely knows. Meanwhile, back in Taiwan, his wife is about to give birth to their second child. Isolated in a foreign country, Lo mulls over his life, dwelling on his difficult relationship with his father and how becoming a father himself has changed him. Faraway is a powerful meditation on the nature of family and the many ways blood can both unite and divide us. Lo's depiction of family dynamics and fraught politics contains a keen sense of irony and sensitivity to everyday absurdity. He offers a deft portrayal of the rift between China and Taiwan through an intimate view of a father-son relationship that bridges this divide. One of the most celebrated writers in Taiwan, Lo has been greatly influential throughout the Chinese-speaking world, but his work has not previously been translated into English. Jeremy Tiang's translation captures Lo's distinctive voice, mordant wit, and nuanced portrayal of Taiwanese culture.

Cheng Gong and Li Jiaqi go way back. Both hailing from dysfunctional families, they grew up together in a Chinese provincial capital in the 1980s. Now, many years later, the childhood friends reunite and discover how much they still have in common. Both have always been determined to follow the tracks of their grandparents' generation to the heart of a mystery that perhaps should have stayed buried. What exactly happened during that rainy night in 1967, in the abandoned water tower? Zhang Yueran's layered and hypnotic prose reveals much about the unshakable power of friendship.

Where there is murder, there is humanity. Hong Kong's greatest detective, Inspector Kwan, is dying. For the past fifty years he has been quietly solving crimes while the world changed around him. Now on his deathbed, his partner Detective Lok needs help with one final case. Through the story of six different but interlocking murders, this bold and intricate crime novel spans five decades of love, honour, jealousy and revenge, in one of the world's most intriguing nations.

Cheng Gong and Li Jiaqi go way back. Both hailing from dysfunctional families, they grew up together in a Chinese provincial capital in the 1980s. Now, many years later, the childhood friends reunite and discover how much they still have in common. Both have always been determined to follow the tracks of their grandparents' generation to the heart of a mystery that perhaps should have stayed buried. What exactly happened during that rainy night in 1967, in the abandoned water tower? Zhang Yueran's layered and hypnotic prose reveals much about the unshakable power of friendship and the existence of hope. Hers is a unique fresh voice representing a new generation of important young writers from China, shedding a different light on the country's recent past. 'Cocoon is a stupendous novel, a beautiful and formidable achievement on the grandest scale. Its ruthless psychological realism is wondrously amplified by Zhang Yueran's magical powers of description. Zhang Yueran's scenes and images have an unworldly gleam of both hard-won insight and timeless truth. The novel is a triumph.' - Ian McEwan, author of the international bestseller Atonement 'Zhang dazzles with an intricately crafted web of secrets centered on two childhood friends in China. In lyrical prose, Zhang deeply humanizes her leads as they look to the past in an effort to understand themselves. It adds up to a remarkable and tragic story of family and community.' - Publishers Weekly, starred review 'Cocoon is an extraordinary coming-of-age novel, which confronts the cultural and psychological legacy of the older generations with deep understanding and penetrating insights. The story unfolds with narrative exuberance and acute intelligence. It is Zhang Yureran's masterpiece.' - Ha Jin, author of the National Book Award Winner Waiting 'Flickers of personal history can quietly suggest a national scale...As the past gives up its ghosts, Cocoon becomes a tapestry.' - The Telegraph 'Cheng Gong and Li Jiaqi are childhood friends. After many years of separation, they reunite and find a shared interest in the stories of their grandparents' generation. What happened on that rainy night in the deserted water tower in 1967? How did that event impact both families and the generations after? Zhang Yueran, one of the most renowned young writers from China, tells the story of the country's past in a different perspective and with a unique insight. In her beautiful and meaningful prose, hope and love reside where trauma heals.' - The Millions Most Anticipated 'An irresistible siren-song of a novel by one of our most original voices...a grandfather lies in a coma, his brain destroyed by a nail and two friends reach across time and the gaps between them to unravel the mystery of that nail, a mystery that has haunted and tormented both their families. A transcendent novel that suggests that family secrets and family crimes are the nation from which none of us can ever fully escape.' - JUNOT DIAZ, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao and This Is How You Lose Her

In this sprawling, award-winning novel, celebrated Chinese writer Liu Xinwu cordially invites you to an epic, riotous, and moving neighborhood feast. On a December morning in 1982, the courtyard of a Beijing siheyuan-a lively quadrangle of homes-begins to stir. Auntie Xue's son Jiyue is getting married today, and she is determined to make the day a triumph. Despite Jiyue's woeful ignorance in matters of the heart-and the body. Despite a chef in training tasked with the onerous responsibility of preparing the banquet. With a cross-generational multitude of guests, from anxious family members to a fretful bridal party-not to mention exasperating friends, interfering neighbors, and wedding crashers-what will the day ahead bring? Set at a pivotal point after the turmoil of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Liu Xinwu's tale weaves together a rich tapestry of characters, intertwined lives, and stories within stories. The Wedding Party is a touching, hilarious portrait of life in this singular city, all packed into a Beijing courtyard on a single day that manages to be both perfectly normal and utterly extraordinary at the same time.

From award-winning Hong Kong writer Chan Ho-Kei, The Borrowed tells the story of Kwan Chun-dok, a Hong Kong detective whose career spans fifty years of the territory's history. A deductive powerhouse, Kwan becomes a legend in the force, nicknamed "the Eye of Heaven" by his awe-struck colleagues. Divided into six sections told in reverse chronological order--each of which covers an important case in Kwan's career and takes place at a pivotal moment in Hong Kong history from the 1960s to the present day--The Borrowed follows Kwan from his experiences during the Leftist Riot in 1967, when a bombing plot threatens many lives; the conflict between the HK Police and ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) in 1977; the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989; to the Handover in 1997; and the present day of 2013, when Kwan is called on to solve his final case, the murder of a local billionaire, while Hong Kong increasingly resembles a police state. Along the way we meet Communist rioters, ultraviolent gangsters, stallholders at the city's many covered markets, pop singers enmeshed in the high-stakes machinery of star-making, and a people always caught in the shifting balance of political power, whether in London or Beijing--all coalescing into a dynamic portrait of this fascinating city. Tracing a broad historical arc, The Borrowed reveals just how closely everything is connected, how history always repeats itself, and how we have come full circle to repeat the political upheaval and societal unrest of the past. It is a gripping, brilliantly constructed novel from a talented new voice.

Li Er, whose innovative works of fiction have earned the admiration of scholars and critics - and a passionate fan base of readers - is one of China's most prominent writers. This landmark publication of his Coloratura, a tour de force of literary innovation, marks the first translation of the author's novels into English. Set against the turbulent backdrop of the Chinese Civil War, Coloratura revolves around the mysterious Ge Ren, whose story is told by three narrators and a host of other voices. Who was Ge Ren really? Just about the only thing anyone can agree on is that he is dead. But how he died, and who he was when alive, are less than certain. Was Ge Ren a hero, a Nationalist or Communist, a poet, translator, scholar, or spy - or some combination of all these identities? And how much of his story is merely fanciful ""coloratura"" nonsense? As different factions fight for control of China, Ge Ren traverses the political and intellectual life of the country, managing to affect countless lives. Years later, in the present day, his final surviving descendant, the intriguing ""compiler"" of the novel, pieces together the stories of her enigmatic ancestor from a patchwork of narrators, reliable or otherwise, and historical documents, real or invented. But readers also will wonder if she has an agenda of her own. The search for Ge Ren takes us from Chairman Mao's stronghold at Yan'an to a barren People's Commune, and then farther afield, with excursions into Russia, Japan, and even a small town in England. Many of the characters and incidents are actual historical figures and events, woven seamlessly into the fictional storyline. Told with swashbuckling brio and painstaking historical detail, Coloratura is both an illuminating journey through twentieth-century Chinese history and a profound exploration of the elusive nature of truth.

A NEW YORK TIMES BEST THRILLER OF 2021 AND "GLOBETROTTING" PICK! A woman reclaims her own story in this taut and wholly original literary tale from one of China's literary superstars. Hongmei is the perfect Chinese wife: beautiful, diligent, passive. Glen is the perfect American husband: intelligent, caring, well-off. From the outside, Hongmei and Glen's life in the San Francisco Bay Area seems perfect. But at home, their marriage is falling apart. Post-its left on the fridge are their primary form of communication. When Hongmei receives a beguiling email from a secret admirer, naturally she's intrigued. But what starts out as harmless flirting with an internet stranger quickly turns into an all-consuming emotional affair. As Hongmei spills more and more about her dark past as a military intelligence officer-in-training in China, she falls deeper and deeper into a tense cat-and-mouse game. Desperate and self-destructive, she embarks on an investigation into her emailer's secret history...one that may tear her life and marriage apart forever. A psychological story at its core, The Secret Talker elegantly examines how repressed desire and simmering silence can upend even the most idyllic marriage. As Hongmei pursues her stalker, her identity and agency come into question, and the chase curveballs into a captivating journey of self-actualization. Yan Geling pierces the human psyche to reveal devastating and emotional truths - and an ending that will leave readers speechless. Translated from the Chinese by Jeremy Tiang

In Taiwanese writer Lo Yi-Chin's Faraway, a fictionalized version of the author finds himself stranded in mainland China attempting to bring his comatose father home. Lo's father had fled decades ago, abandoning his first family to start a new life in Taiwan. After travel between the two countries becomes politically possible, he returns to visit the son he left behind, only to suffer a stroke. The middle-aged protagonist ventures to China, where he embarks on a protracted struggle with the byzantine hospital regulations while dealing with relatives he barely knows. Meanwhile, back in Taiwan, his wife is about to give birth to their second child. Isolated in a foreign country, Lo mulls over his life, dwelling on his difficult relationship with his father and how becoming a father himself has changed him. Faraway is a powerful meditation on the nature of family and the many ways blood can both unite and divide us. Lo's depiction of family dynamics and fraught politics contains a keen sense of irony and sensitivity to everyday absurdity. He offers a deft portrayal of the rift between China and Taiwan through an intimate view of a father-son relationship that bridges this divide. One of the most celebrated writers in Taiwan, Lo has been greatly influential throughout the Chinese-speaking world, but his work has not previously been translated into English. Jeremy Tiang's translation captures Lo's distinctive voice, mordant wit, and nuanced portrayal of Taiwanese culture.

* First collection of full-length plays from British East Asian playwrights * Ideal for schools, colleges and theatre companies * In association with a conference at Tara Theatre and Goldsmiths University in Spring 2018 A landmark collection of contemporary full-length plays by British East Asian writers. Exploring subjects such as cultural identity, the fragmentation of communities, tradition, invisibility and discrimination, these plays are ideal to perform. With an introduction by academics Dr Amanda Rogers and Dr Ashley Thorpe, which sets the plays into context and explores the hidden history of theatre from the BEA community. BOUND FEET BLUES by Yang-May Ooi THE LAST DAYS OF LIMEHOUSE by Jeremy Tiang JAMAICA BOY by Stephen Hoo CONVERSATIONS WITH MY UNKNOWN MOTHER by Lucy Chau Lai-Tuen SPECIAL OCCASIONS by Amy Ng TANGO by Joel Tan THE FU MANCHU COMPLEX by Daniel York Loh