Be Gay, For God’s Sake: Literary Consultancy
Even during the incredibly eventful and busy year of 2025, I found time to fit in some literary consultancy on the play Be Gay, For God’s Sake. I really wanted my fellow queer Asian creators to succeed and to amplify these intersectional voices that are so key to global queer dialogues. I’m delighted that after performing at Totnes Fringe, they gained a residency at the Voila Theatre Festival, and won Best New Play at the 2025 Fringe Theatre Awards.
Posted in Events and tagged Asian, award, consultancy, East Asian, ESEA, fringe, intersectionality, play, queer, theatre
Chinese Horror Literature in Italy
I couldn’t find a better home for my Chinese horror collection than Italy, and I had the pleasure of being at the MUFANT in Turin, to talk about my experiences as an transcultural author, Chinese science fiction in Europe, Western Gothic and Chinese Gothic, and the unique features of the latter. It was a few weeks after Sinofagia, the Italian edition of my book was published in Italy, and the immense enthusiasm in the audience made everything that it took for the trip to happen worth it. I was also delighted to meet my publishers add editore, and sign some copies of my book in their bookshop.
Posted in Books, Events and tagged add editore, author, books, genre, gothic, horror, Italy, literature, MUFANT, museum, SFF, Sinofagia, translation, Turin
Story Feast 2025: ESEA Futures
On the day of the Far Right rallies in central London on the 13th of September 2025, it felt momentous to be there to stand with my fellow East and Southeast Asian authors, and our diverse audiences at SOAS. It was a day packed with fantastic panels. On the ESEA Futures panel, we discussed how we first got into genre fiction, Western definitions of sci-fi imposed on ESEA literature and how legend and lore sit at an intersection between speculative genres. It was the first time I had spoken about Wuxia storytelling to an Anglophone audience in person, specifically discussing the differences and similarities in its speculative elements with similar fiction in the West.
Posted in Events and tagged Asian, authors, books, diversity, ESEA, festival, fiction, inclusivity, literature, london, POC, representation, SFF, speculative, Wuxia
The Literary Silk Road
One of the things I was unprepared for as I began my literary career, was the extent to which I would become ‘the oil to be borrowed’, writing blurbs for other writers, hosting panels at events, and being invited on junkets, to help promote new ventures. It was in this capacity that I was invited by the China Writer’s Association to attend the first Tacheng & Emin Literary Silk Road China and International Writer’s Exchange. An opportunity to showcase the diversity of China’s heritage, and the opening of the Tacheng Literature Museum.
Posted in Events and tagged author, culture, exchange, literary, silk road
Frankenstein’s Podcast 113: Spirits, Demons and Jiangshi From a Chinese Ghost Story and its Remake
Without Kalid, Joe takes on solo hosting duties and is joined by author, translator and speaker Xueting C. Ni to talk Chinese genre fiction and the myths, legends and creatures behind the 1987 film, A Chinese Ghost Story (directed by Ching Siu-tung) and its subsequent sequels and remakes, including the more recent The Enchanting Phantom. Listen to it here *Thank you to Jim Hall for the music! Check out more of his music here, and if you like what you hear, please consider donating to support his work here! *Thank you to Jim Tandberg for the Frankenstein’s Podcast artwork! *Shoutout to their Patreon Producer(s), Luke Johnson, Andy Groth, Jake Kohl & Joe Mischo! Support them on Patreon!
Posted in Events and tagged Chinese Ghost Story, demons, enchanted phantom, film, ghosts, jiangshi, occult, podcast, spirits, storytelling
Brighton Book Festival 2025: Sinophagia
One of my highlights of 2025 was being invited to the Brighton Book Festival, whose motto is “making the marginalised mainstream”, to be part of their first ever event on horror literature, an apt occasion to discuss my anthology Sinophagia, the first curated collection of translated contemporary horror from China. Alongside two wonderful fellow authors, we read extracts from our books, and discussed topics such as female horror fiction, horror literature in relation to the exploration of facets of human nature, horror fiction and the writing of grief, followed by some great questions from a very interested audience, and signing. The venue was packed with an audience that did very much, go in there!
Posted in Events and tagged anthology, books, festival, fiction, horror, literature, SFF, women, writing
Birmingham Science Fiction Group May 2025: Chinese Horror and Sinophagia
It was a pleasure to be with the Birmingham Science Fiction Group in person to give a talk about modern Chinese horror fiction and discuss my collection Sinophagia, in particular the two horror sci-fi tales featured in it, The Waking Dream and Ti’naang. The event was packed and attended by readers of different generations. This group is one of the longest running science fiction groups in the U.K., it was a great pleasure to speak with my hosts as well as the group’s founders. I will be writing about this soon.
Posted in Events and tagged books, fiction, horror, literature, SFF
SRFC January 2025: Sinophagia
It was an immense pleasure to return to the SRFC, which hosted a session for Sinopticon previously, to talk about Sinophagia, where I spoke to the host Caro about the challenges of pulling the collection together and “what is horror?” in China and the Anglophone West, as well as what we find frightening, and what the themes in the book tell us about contemporary Chinese society. Equally an absolute pleasure to share the stage with fellow author T.L. Huchu.
Posted in Events and tagged anthology, book club, books, genre, horror, literature, SFF
In to Mortal World: a New Evolution of the Cowherd and the Weaver Myth
Today is Qixi Festival, which falls on the 7th of the seventh lunar month. Whereas Valentine’s Day is also now celebrated in China, as is Lantern Festival for first romances, Qixi is the occasion to celebrate enduring love. And as arts and commerce increasingly turn their focus on it, more couples in China are choosing tie to knot on this day. The origins of this festival, is of course, associated with the story of Niulang and Zhinüng, the mortal Cowherd and the Weaver goddess, China’s story of star-crossed lovers and one of its four greatest legends, which you can read out in my book Chinese Myths. If you’re interested in the supreme goddess who played a key role in the tale, read my guide to Chinese deities). For the traditions and customs, read my article. This year, I wanted to write about a brilliant continuation of the myth by the donghua film Into the Mortal World (落凡尘, 2024), which I managed to catch on the plane on a recent trip.
Posted in Articles, Events and tagged animation, Cantonese, china, Chinese, Cowherd and Weaver, donghua, film, Guangdong, Guangzhou, myth
Haidilao: Fresh, Fun and Friendly Hot Pot Dining
This May I had the pleasure of visiting Haidilao’s Birmingham branch. Away from the new cluster of hotpot places in London, I was a little worried that the experience would be rather “phoned in”, but I was pleased to discover it was anything but. While I’ve grown up with Cantonese hot pot, and had plenty of other regional versions in restaurants as well as home cooked in Chinese households, I’ve always wanted to try Haidilao, one of the most well know chains of hotpot restaurants, both in China and now the UK. Being an adventurous eater, and knowing that not everyone will enter with the same open mindedness, I attended with a British friend in tow whose culinary needs are usually met by the stereotypical “Treats Of Beige” School of freezer foods and chips. A very different perspective to my own.
Posted in Articles, Events and tagged Chinese, cuisine, food, haidilao, hot pot, restaurant, review