It is my great pleasure to finally announce that my translation of Syaman Rapongan's novel, Eyes of the Sky, will be published with Columbia University Press in March!
Pre-orders are available now at the link below, and the image has a code for 20% off!
https://t.co/Wanfmen0wS
Looking forward to being a part of the unofficial ‘Harvard Taiwan Week’ this week, ending with a full day Friday symposium (4/17) that Kyle Shernuk, Yedong Chen, and yours truly have put together - and convened by David Wang. Hope to see you there!
@lilyw0817@Jifengbooks In the end, JF Books sold out of all the copies they stocked for the event! So, join the trend and hop online to buy your own copy today directly from Columbia University Press or Amazon!
https://t.co/WanfmemsHk
https://t.co/H1E7uaznw4
The link is now up for the recent discussion of my translation of Syaman Rapongan's novel Eyes of the Sky!
Moderated by @lilyw0817 and hosted by @Jifengbooks, we talk translation, Taiwan, Tao culture, and why everyone should read translated literature.
https://t.co/KjrOkQz35c
#JFSALON To understand Taiwan, look beyond the headlines to its indigenous peoples. Kyle Shernuk, @kshernuk, translator of Eyes of the Sky and assistant professor at Georgetown, introduces Syaman Rapongan: a Tao writer from Orchid Island whose work chronicles his community's oceanic culture and their survival under Han-Taiwanese colonialism. Eyes of the Sky is available at https://t.co/qdx9UFeEVm
#JFSALON#RSVP
Indigenous Taiwan & Syaman Rapongan's Eyes of the Sky
Speaker: Kyle Shernuk @kshernuk
Date: March 19, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM, Thursday
RSVP: https://t.co/nLJFMCzwEK
To understand Taiwan, one must look to its Indigenous peoples. A Tao writer from Orchid Island, Syaman is a chronicler of his community’s oceanic culture and their stories of survival and perseverance in the face of Han-Taiwanese colonialism. This new translation offers a rare Indigenous perspective on the modern world. This Pacific story will resonate with anyone who has ever wondered about their place in a rapidly changing world.
About the Speakers
Kyle Shernuk (佘仁強) is the translator of Eyes of the Sky, an assistant professor of Modern Chinese Literature and Culture at Georgetown University. His research focuses on disempowered and minoritized populations, with publications addressing issues of ethnicity, Indigeneity, queerness, and language in global Chinese communities.
Moderator: Lily Wong is an associate professor of Literature and Critical Race, Gender & Culture Studies at American University. Her research focuses on the politics of affective labor, racial capitalism, and media formations of transpacific Chinese, Sinophone, and Asian American communities.
Come join me and Lily Wong on Thursday, March 19, from 6-7:30 pm at @Jifengbooks for a discussion of my new translation of Syaman Rapongan's novel Eyes of the Sky
Register here: https://t.co/Ykg2369Jq7
Buy at JF Books after the event or via the press: https://t.co/WanfmemsHk
Visualizing China's leadership: I'm back with an updated infographic, this time showing newly purged party members, new roles, and updated job descriptions.
Download the full version: https://t.co/zkFaO2QAjU
#JFSALON#季風人文講壇#季風書園講座#严歌苓
My Life in Writing: A Conversation with Geling Yan
Speakers: Gelin Yan Moderator: Kyle Shernuk
Date: Jan 13, 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM EST
RSVP: https://t.co/h52eHUGwRT
The life of author and scriptwriter Geling Yan 嚴歌苓 has been one of great variety: soldier, dancer, author, scriptwriter, diplomatic spouse, and resident of mainland China, the US, Taiwan, Nigeria and currently Berlin. She has witnessed the massacre at Tiananmen Square and gone from being a high-profile celebrity in China to having her work banned and her online presence and film credit erased. She now publishes her own uncensored work, most recently the English translation of her epic novel Criminal Lu Yanshi, about the life and times of a Chinese intellectual who values truth and freedom but ends up spending much of his life in a labor camp. Please join us for a fascinating exchange moderated by Georgetown professor Kyle Shernuk.
About the Speaker: Yan Geling was born in Shanghai and served as a dancer in a People’s Liberation Army entertainment troupe during starting at age 12. She has written over 30 books and won over 30 literature and film awards. Many of her works have been adapted for film and television by major Chinese film directors. Her work has been translated into 21 languages.
Moderator of this talk, Kyle Shernuk @kshernuk is an Assistant Professor at Georgetown University specializing in modern and contemporary Chinese and Sinophone literature, film, and culture. His research focuses on ethnicity, indigeneity, queerness, language, and marginalized communities across global Chinese-speaking societies. He has published in leading journals and edited volumes, including Prism, International Journal of Taiwan Studies, and A New Literary History of Modern China.
"Answers the question: 'To what extent can our research and teaching in the humanities help to provide our students with the means to better understand the alarming changes in the world around us?' …a very impressive book" —Chia-ju Chang, Brooklyn College https://t.co/WxJ494gHwD
If you feel like braving a snowy day, come visit me in Charlottesville today! I'll be giving a lecture at @Uva_EAC about "Indigenous Taiwan: Ethnography and Identity Politics in the works of Syaman Rapongan and Heather Tsu". Hope to see you there!
On Taiwan’s National Day, we celebrate the voices, stories, and scholarship that illuminate the island’s culture, environment, and global connections. See more books at https://t.co/UmSdxoddQT
Georgetown's Department of East Asian Languages & Cultures is excited to co-host JF Books 2025 Screening of Sinophone Independent Films! Please join us later this month!
2025 Screening of Sinophone Independent Films
“Real Edges: Identity, Struggle, and Memory in a Shifting World”
On the first anniversary of JF Books’ opening in Washington, D.C., the inaugural Screening of Sinophone Independent Films will be held from September 20 to 28, 2025.
The festival interlaces Taiwanese documentaries with voices from Hong Kong, Uyghurs, the Philippines, and Africa—together sketching the resilient silhouette of independent cinema’s soul amid the ruins.
Hosted by non-profit JF Books @Jifengbooks, the Sinovisual Culture and Art Institute (SCAI), and CIFA, in collaboration with George Washington University @gwusigurcenter, Georgetown University @Georgetown, USCET @USCET, and CAF @cafatgw, this festival opens a raw and authentic window onto China’s grassroots realities.
In less than a decade, China’s independent film scene has fallen from vibrancy into ruins—shattered bricks and scattered debris. Yet survivors and newcomers continue to gather these fragments, seeking to rebuild hope through the power of cinema.
Order Online: https://t.co/9keWV2NKbo
Screenings across multiple venues — details available at ticketing points.
*Students: $6 admission with valid school email address