Winner of English Pen Award

The Chilli Bean Paste Clan by YAN Ge

Set in a fictional town in West China, this is the story of the Duan-Xue family, owners of the lucrative chilli bean paste factory, and their formidable matriarch. As Gran’s eightieth birthday approaches, her middle-aged children get together to make preparations. Family secrets are revealed and long-time sibling rivalries flare up with renewed vigour. As Shengqiang struggles unsuccessfully to juggle the demands of his mistress and his wife, the biggest surprises of all come from Gran herself……

Translated from the Chinese by Nicky Harman

“A fascinating glimpse into the life of a dysfunctional family in modern China.”—Marina Lewycka, author of A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian

New in Chinese: “The Chilli Bean Paste Clan” Words Without Borders

By Ruth Finnegan

It is a common notion that Africa has, and indeed ought to have, learned much from the west. This is not wrong; all cultures rightly learn from each other. But less is said of what there is to learn from Africa: from her stories, myths, music, proverbs, insights – and more. Here an acclaimed African scholar steps into the gap by uncovering for us something of the great legacy of African thought and practice in ways that will astonish many. Written with verve and authority and directed above all to students and sixth formers, this book will also delight and often surprise those who know something of Africa as well as those hitherto ignorant.

Ruth Finnegan OBE FBA is Emeritus Professor The Open University, Foreign Associate of the Finnish Literature Bureau, and International Fellow of the American Folklore Society. An anthropologist and multi-award author, she has published extensively, chiefly on Africa, musical practice, and English urban life. Recent books include How is Language?, Fiji’s Music: Where Did It Come From?, her edited Entrancement: The Consciousness of Dreaming, Music and The World, and two prize-winning Africa-influenced novels Black Inked Pearl and Voyage of Pearl of the Seas.

(Hearing Others’ Voices book series)

– A graphic designer’s tale

By Rob Janoff (Designer of Apple logo)

How do you brand a revolution?

In his engaging new book, Taking a Bite out of the Apple: A Graphic Designer’s Tale, Rob Janoff – designer of the world-famous Apple logo – shares what it was like to live through the heady days of the home computer revolution. From his fateful meeting with Steve Jobs in Silicon Valley as a young art director in 1977, to his current position heading up an international branding company with his Australian business partner, Rob’s career continues with its focus on distilling a client’s business personality into a memorable icon.

Taking a Bite out of the Apple is an intimate view into how Rob’s design for a young, start-up company became a defining moment in a long career. After working on national brands like Apple, IBM, Intel, Kraft and Kleenex at top US agencies, Rob now enjoys working with a diversity of companies from Japan, Italy, Australia, China and the UK.

Telling the true tale of how the globally loved icon came to be, Rob offers insight and inspiration to young people considering the field of graphic design – and to the young at heart who share his love of memorable graphics.

(Hearing Others’ Voices book series)

By Anupa Roy

Asia Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC) Event, Singapore, 6 September 2018.

The Game Hunters is based on research and findings about Asian prehistoric people in Southern Siberia — people who were inventive, courageous and who put the tribes before themselves.

The Game Hunters is a story of innovation and acceptance, love and death in Ice Age Asia.

By Yeng Pway Ngon

Translated by Jeremy Tiang

When the fervour of revolution is gone, what remains?

Four leftist teenagers in 1950s Malaya dedicate themselves to overthrowing colonialism and bringing about a better world. With time, their paths diverge — into capitalism, into adultery, into the dark heart of the Cultural Revolution. Disillusioned and middle-aged, they look back at their lives from the prosperous but soulless 1980s, wondering what has become of their dreams and ideals.

Winner of the Singapore Literature Prize

Book reviews:

‘The fiery radicals became businessmen, housewives, and pensioners — ordinary people. Yet such ordinary people once shook the world, and could do so again.’— The White Review

Leeds University Writing Chinese Reviews

Asian Review of Books