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Nifraz Rifaz, a Sri Lankan novelist based in Hong Kong, sits by the Jamia Mosque in Mid-Levels. His debut novel, Paper Planes, is set against the 2019 Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka. Photo: Karma Lo
Books and literature

His family felt silenced after Sri Lanka’s Easter bombings. He tells their story

Hong Kong-based Sri Lankan Nifraz Rifaz’s novel Paper Plane explores the trauma faced by Muslims in the aftermath of the 2019 attacks.

Chinese culture

The tragic Qing politician whose legacy lives on in descendant’s new novel

Chinese culture

Famous Chinese women in folklore, from Mulan to a dynasty-toppling consort

Art

The Buddhist text in Taiwan said to bring lifetimes of luck with one glimpse

The Tibetan Dragon Canon, a huge 17th century scripture on show at Taiwan’s National Palace Museum, has set social media ablaze.

A gold-inked manuscript from the Tibetan Dragon Canon, which is on show as part of the “Tibetan Dragon Canon: A Symphony of Imperial Power, Belief and Art in a Golden Age” exhibition at Taiwan’s National Palace Museum until November 8, 2026. The 357-year-old text has recently gone viral for apparently granting those who view it seven lifetimes of good karma. Photo: NPM
One of the red-lacquered outer protective boards of the Tibetan Dragon Canon. The boards bear inscriptions of Buddhist mantras. Photo: NPM
Hong Kong culture

Obituary | How scholar Ackbar Abbas changed the way people thought about Hong Kong

Abbas, whose concepts such as ‘déjà disparu’ are still used to explain how Hong Kong feels from the inside, died on July 13 at the age of 84.

Books and literature

‘I never felt ready’: author on finally writing her Chinese grandmother’s story

Elizabeth Lim reveals why it took her 10 years to write Fishbone Cinderella about her grandmother’s journey from Hong Kong to San Francisco.

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Asian cinema: Hong Kong film

6 surprising facts from Jet Li’s new book, including his near-death moment

From his many names to dishwasher woes, Beyond Life and Death shares things about the Chinese martial artist fans may not have been aware of.

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In his new book Beyond Life and Death: The Way of True Freedom, Li says he has always been searching for his true self, and finally found it through practising Tibetan Buddhism. He wrote the book to share the spiritual benefits of these practices. Photo: handout
In his new book Beyond Life and Death: The Way of True Freedom, Li says he has always been searching for his true self, and finally found it through practising Tibetan Buddhism. He wrote the book to share the spiritual benefits of these practices. Photo: handout
Travel

A new literary festival in a tiny French village has a Hong Kong connection

Michelle Garnaut, founder of M at the Fringe in Hong Kong, has launched a festival in France blending literature, music and community spirit.

Books and literature

Author Eiko Kadono is 91, loves pink and never tires of writing

Eiko Kadono has written 200 books and does not intend to stop. One of her stories, Kiki’s Delivery Service, became a Studio Ghibli anime hit.

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Books and literature

New Audrey Hepburn biography is an emotional roller coaster of joy and tragedy

Intimate Audrey reveals new stories regarding the British icon famous for films including Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Roman Holiday.

Audrey Hepburn in a still from Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961). A new biography, Intimate Audrey, co-written by her son Sean Hepburn Ferrer and Wendy Holden, has recently been released. Photo: Paramount Pictures
Books and literature

‘Night of Horrors’: LA’s Chinese massacre of 1871 brought to fore in new book

Lisa See’s novel Daughters of the Sun and Moon revisits the terrible events that saw around 500 people attack the city’s Chinese residents.

American author Lisa See. Her Chinese great-grandfather, Fong See, settled in Los Angeles in 1897 around 26 years after the events of the Los Angeles Chinese massacre of 1871, in which roughly 500 white and Latino Angelenos attacked the city’s Chinese residents. Photo: Patricia Williams
American author Lisa See. Her Chinese great-grandfather, Fong See, settled in Los Angeles in 1897 around 26 years after the events of the Los Angeles Chinese massacre of 1871, in which roughly 500 white and Latino Angelenos attacked the city’s Chinese residents. Photo: Patricia Williams
Books and literature

Hong Kong author Kit Fan on ‘reverse migration’, identity and his new novel

The UK-based writer, whose Goodbye Chinatown follows a food-centric family between Hong Kong and London, talks about how places change people.

Books and literature

How buildings and cities shape our lives, from ancient Rome to Hong Kong today

Architectural scholar Stefan Al compresses 2 million years of human habitation into 258 pages in his new book, Dwelling on Earth.

Chinese culture

She rejected her Chinese heritage as a child. Now, she writes about it

Scottish-born Eliza Chan, who once dropped out of medical school, is a fantasy writer who marries Eastern myths with Western folklore.

Eliza Chan speaking at the Manchester Literature Festival in 2025. The writer, who grew up in Scotland, went from rejecting her Chinese heritage to embracing it. Photo: Chris Payne
Books and literature

How should we greet aliens? Neil deGrasse Tyson has the answer

In his new book, Take Me to Your Leader, Neil deGrasse Tyson examines what we can anticipate from first contact and how to react.

Neil deGrasse Tyson and Stephen Colbert appear on the CBS series The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on April 21, 2026. DeGrasse Tyson’s new book, Take Me To Your Leader, was released in May. Photo: CBS via Getty Images
Neil deGrasse Tyson and Stephen Colbert appear on the CBS series The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on April 21, 2026. DeGrasse Tyson’s new book, Take Me To Your Leader, was released in May. Photo: CBS via Getty Images
Parenting: newborns to toddlers

10 Japanese parenting tips to raise well-behaved, mindful and creative children

US-based author Lisa Katayama, who grew up in Tokyo, chose the Japanese way of parenting to bring up her kids. She shares 10 simple principles.

World of performing arts

A female Hamlet, a BMW-driving Hamlet: how Shakespeare’s play is having a moment

Fresh, vibrant and inclusive, new Hamlet productions are part of a wave of interest in the Shakespearean tragedy seen from stages to TikTok.

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European cinema

Who was Marguerite Duras? Decoding the French cinema radical’s dual identity

Born in French Indochina in 1914, Duras was a visionary who treated the silver screen as a canvas for her haunting psychological experiments.

Delphine Seyrig in a still from India Song (1975), a film by radical French auteur Marguerite Duras that is considered her magnum opus, standing as the ultimate triumph of her avant-garde phase.
Delphine Seyrig in a still from India Song (1975), a film by radical French auteur Marguerite Duras that is considered her magnum opus, standing as the ultimate triumph of her avant-garde phase.
Music

‘This is insane!’ Korean-American rapper Dumbfoundead on family, music and Beef

A writer on Beef season two, battle rapper Dumbfoundead has taken his underground rap mentality with him from the gutter to the stars.

TV shows and streaming video

‘Sex is a language in this show’: Heated Rivalry’s Rachel Reid and Jacob Tierney

Author Rachel Reid and director Jacob Tierney talk about writing sex scenes, realising they had something big, and upcoming sequels.

Wellness

Is your family addicted to screens and junk food? How to change their habits

In her book Dopamine Kids, Michaeleen Doucleff examines our reliance on ‘magnets’ that hamper happiness and explains how to overcome them.

Ultra-processed food and screens are dopamine “magnets” that can be avoided for a better quality of life, according to biochemist Michaeleen Doucleff, whose new book Dopamine Kids explains how to reshape your family’s habits. Photo: Shutterstock
Food and Drinks

The ‘soju artist’ teaching the world to drink soju with an English guide

‘Soju artist’ Kim Wan-jun has published the English translation of his book on the drink’s history, etiquettes and social rituals.

Kim Wan-jun is the author of How to Drink Soju: A Guide to K-Drinking Culture & Games, a 300-page book now translated into English. Photo: Instagram/funnyjun_
Kim Wan-jun is the author of How to Drink Soju: A Guide to K-Drinking Culture & Games, a 300-page book now translated into English. Photo: Instagram/funnyjun_
Art

They were both couriers. One wrote a bestselling book, the other made a film

I Deliver Parcels in Beijing author Hu Anyan and videographer Kong Yiu-wing talk about making art out of hard, blue-collar labour.

Art

‘Beautiful and unexpected’: join Pulitzer Prize winner on a Hong Kong stroll

‘Trust’ author Hernan Diaz talks about his lauded 1920s New York-set novel and architectural power symbols on his first visit to Hong Kong.

Books and literature

How Asian-American couple’s Tubby Nugget went from silly doodle to viral fame

The husband-and-wife creators of Tubby Nugget reflect on their character’s incredible success as they release their first graphic novel.

A image of Tubby Nugget with his dog, Hunter, from the Tubby Nugget Instagram account. Photo: Instagram/tubbynugget
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