Balestier Press

27/02/2026

Exiled Myanmar writer Ma Thida told audiences in Japan this year that critical thinking — nurtured through reading — is essential to resisting military rule and building a future beyond the junta.

05/02/2026

We’re honoured to share that
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒂’𝒔 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈 by Sharon Paul,
translated by Nadiyah Abdullatif
(a forthcoming title from Balestier Press),
has been selected as a winner of this year's English PEN Awards (PEN Translates).

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒂’𝒔 𝑺𝒐𝒏𝒈 by Sharon Paul tells the story of Nas, a young Mauritian singer whose music fuses sega and reggae to challenge injustice. Inspired by the life of Kaya, the novel explores colonial legacy, racial inequality, and the events leading to Mauritius’s 1999 riots.

Huge congratulations to all the wonderful winners and projects on this year’s list. 🖋️📚✨ https://www.englishpen.org/posts/news/pen-translates-winners-announced-8/

30/01/2026

Warm congratulations to all the wonderful finalists! 🎉

2026 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation – Finalists:

'Concerning the Angels' — Rafael Alberti
Translated from Spanish by John Murillo

'I Have Brought You a Severed Hand' — Ghayath Almadhoun
Translated from Arabic by Catherine Cobham

'For Now I Am Sitting Here Growing Transparent' — Yau Ching 游靜
Translated from Chinese by Chenxin Jiang

'Theory of the Voice and Dream' — Liliana Ponce
Translated from Spanish by Michael Martin Shea

'At the Edge: Selected Political Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva' — Marina Tsvetaeva
Translated from Russian by Margaree Little

https://www.instagram.com/p/DUIk-yuDEr9/

30/01/2026

🎉 Brilliant News:

𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝑰 𝑨𝒎 𝑺𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕
(Zephyr Press/Balestier Press 2025)

by Yau Ching 游靜, translated by Chenxin Jiang,

is a FINALIST for the 2026 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation!

(The Awards Ceremony will be held at New York City, March 31, 2026)

https://balestier.com/books/literature/for-now-i-am-sitting-here-growing-transparent/

📖 See all the finalists here: https://pen.org/2026-pen-america-literary-awards-finalists/

by Yau Ching 游靜. Translated by Chenxin Jiang. Longlisted for the 2026 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation. 'for now I am sitting here growing transparent' brings together some of Yau Ching’s most resonant poems in a bilingual mid-career retrospective that reveals a writer working at the edges ...

18/01/2026

📖 Events (Literature from Taiwan)

Yen Ai Lin 顏艾琳｜Bone Skin Flesh《骨皮肉》
European Tour 2026

Poet 𝐘𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐢 𝐋𝐢𝐧 embarks on a European journey to share her new book 𝑩𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑺𝒌𝒊𝒏 𝑭𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒉, weaving words, readings, and creative exchanges across Paris, London, and Oxford. Join us to experience the rhythm of language (and translation), the textures of thought, and the intimate landscapes of her work.

🇫🇷 Paris

22 Jan 2026｜15:00–17:00
Espace F 360, 5 Rue Mignon, 75006

23 Jan 2026｜16:30
EHESS, Boulevard Raspail
The event will include translation and interpretation by Olivier Janin and Tu Tsao-yin.
📍 Information
Venue: EHESS, Room AS1-08
Address: 54 boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris

24 Jan 2026｜20:00–22:00
8lithèque, 3 Rue Victor Considérant, 75014

🇬🇧 UK

2 Feb 2026｜17:00–19:00
Venue: DLT Lecture Theatre. SOAS, Main Building, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London, WC1H 0XG
SOAS (Centre of Taiwan Studies)

3 Feb 2026｜12:30-13:45
Venue: Seminar Room 8, St Anne's College, University of Oxford
discussion between the poet, Yen Ai-Lin 顏艾琳, Dr Aoife Cantrill, Dr Bingbing Shi and Samir Ng Sum Leung
https://occt.web.ox.ac.uk/event/event-with-taiwanese-poet-yen-ai-lin

📘 "骨皮肉 Bone Skin Flesh" is bilingual, in Traditional Chinese and English. Translated by Jenn Marie Nunes.

by Yen Ai Lin. Translated by Jenn Marie Nunes. First published in Chinese in 1997, now appears in a bilingual edition with its first English translations by Jenn Marie Nunes. A landmark in contemporary Taiwanese poetry, these poems revel in the feminine-its desires, violences, and contradictions-thr...

17/01/2026

Event (Literature from Taiwan) in Paris:

An Afternoon of Poetry with Yen Ai-lin, featuring the poet Yen Ai-lin (顏艾琳).

📅 Friday, January 23
🕟 4:30 PM

The event will include translation and interpretation by Olivier Janin and Tu Tsao-yin.

📍 Information
Venue: EHESS, Room AS1-08
Address: 54 boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris
🚇 Metro:
– Lines 10 or 12, Sèvres-Babylone station
– Line 4, Saint-Sulpice station
🚌 Bus: Lines 68 or 94, stop Rue du Cherche-Midi

🎟️ Free admission, subject to seat availability.

We look forward to seeing you there!

==============================================
Chères et chers amis,

Nous avons le grand plaisir de vous convier à un nouvel Atelier poésie, intitulé Un après-midi poésie avec Yen Ai-lin, en compagnie de la poétesse Yen Ai-lin (顏艾琳).

📅 Vendredi 23 janvier
🕟 16h30

La rencontre sera accompagnée d’une traduction et interprétation assurées par Olivier Janin et Tu Tsao-yin.

📍 Informations pratiques
Lieu : EHESS, salle AS1-08
Adresse : 54 boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris
🚇 Métro :
– Lignes 10 ou 12, station Sèvres-Babylone
– Ligne 4, station Saint-Sulpice
🚌 Bus : Lignes 68 ou 94, arrêt Rue du Cherche-Midi

🎟️ Entrée libre, dans la limite des places disponibles.

Au plaisir de vous y retrouver nombreux,

Bien à vous toutes et tous 🌿

=========================================

誠摯邀請您參加：「與顏艾琳共度詩意午後」，特別邀請詩人 顏艾琳 蒞臨分享。

📅 1 月 23 日（星期五）
🕟 下午 4 點 30 分

本次活動將由 Olivier Janin 與 Tu Tsao-yin 提供 口譯。

📍 活動資訊
地點：EHESS 法國高等研究院，AS1-08 教室
地址：54 boulevard Raspail, 75006 Paris
🚇 地鐵：
－ 10 號線或 12 號線，Sèvres-Babylone 站
－ 4 號線，Saint-Sulpice 站
🚌 公車：
－ 68 或 94 號，Rue du Cherche-Midi 站

🎟️ 免費入場，名額有限，額滿為止。

誠摯期待與您在詩意的午後相會 🌙

05/01/2026

Longlisted for the 2026 PEN Award for Poetry in Translation ✨

Winner of the 2020 Words Without Borders–Academy of American Poets Translation Contest

We’re thrilled to share news about for now I am sitting here growing transparent, a bilingual mid-career retrospective by Yau Ching, translated by Chenxin Jiang.

Moving through Hong Kong, the U.S., Tokyo, and the unnamed spaces in between, these poems trace a landscape of hauntings—unrealised possibilities, political fractures, and tender, fiercely honest self-inquiry. With a voice that is both rebellious and vulnerable, Yau writes at the edges of visibility, language, queerness, and belonging, using softness as a mode of critique and poetry as a counter-language to capitalism, coloniality, and erasure.

Chenxin Jiang’s vivid English translations preserve Yau’s playfulness and razor-sharp attentiveness to language, making this volume feel like an intimate conversation with a brilliant friend—one unafraid to ask the most heartbreaking questions.

“I read this entire volume in one sitting… as if chased by monsters.” —Amie Parry
“A book of hauntings, a magically conjured landscape.” —Chris McCabe
“Rebellious, timely, and ultimately unforgettable.” —Jennifer Feeley

📘 Bilingual Chinese–English edition

🔗 Learn more: https://balestier.com/books/literature/for-now-i-am-sitting-here-growing-transparent/