literature

LITERATURE

My Grandmother, the Chinese Censor DEANNA FEI “Don’t write anything bad about China,” says my grandmother. China was too often negatively portrayed in the West, and so I had a special responsibility…	China’s Post-‘80s Literature Spins a Sexy Tale YUEN CHUNG-KWONG Meet the biggest names in China’s contemporary literary scene, from Chun Shu to Han Han.
If CLARISSA TAN If I told you, Reader, that sometimes when I err down narrow streets, and my glance falls on a flower in perfect bloom, or on a snow-white statue with an arm raised forever toward heaven, and that these sights alone could leave me close to tears for the rest of the day – would you think less of me?	Lovers CLARISSA TAN Paris, let us make a pact.
Visible CLARISSA TAN The other day I saw a magic act.	Sun CLARISSA TAN So my friend and I were sitting on a branch of a tree, in the sun. This friend has seen my life blown to smithereens, lying in fragments on the ground. She did not help me pick up the shards; she did something better. She showed me it was OK to have one’s existence blown apart.
Hollywood CLARISSA TAN Today we have naming of parts.	Fresh CLARISSA TAN Today I got up and remembered an old love. Only it was as fresh as the morn. We were walking in a garden and at every step we took, my heart broke. But if we don’t go back, we can never move forward.
Candle CLARISSA TAN Suddenly, all the lights went out in my neighbourhood. There was a power outage. Up and down the street, there were exclamations, curses, the bumping into furniture, the fumbling for torches, the hunting of matches.	Defence CLARISSA TAN “This year, our nation will spend 7.3% of our GDP, or $12 billion, on defence. Approximately $8 billion will go into Keeping Up With The Joneses, or – as is more relevant in our case – With The Wongs. If our neighbours get double glazing or a gazebo, we will too. Whatever the number of our neighbour’s cars, where n denotes the amount, the number of our cars will be n+1.
Meditation CLARISSA TAN here i am sitting on the cushion sitting on mat what did the guru say? breathe in breathe out observe your thoughts let it come let it go	List CLARISSA TAN More than being a time for tinsel and tinkly songs, the holidays are a season for making lists – lists of favourite songs of the year, lists of the best books of the decade, lists of the world’s greatest disasters, lists for shopping, lists of resolutions, lists of the most and least fashionable people, lists of all the lists available.