恭喜发财 (Gong hei fat choy)! 新年快乐 (Xīn nián kuài lè)! Chúc Mừng Năm Mới! 새해복많이받으세요 (Saehae bok manhi badeuseyo)! Manigong Bagong Taon!
HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!
From draconic displays to sino stories, here’s how we celebrated the Year of the Dragon at Palmers Green Library Hub…
Spotlighting ESEA Writers
During the Lunar New Year, we at Palmers Green Library Hub like to take the opportunity to showcase East and South East Asian writers. This year we have chosen to highlight the work of Ocean Vuong, a remarkable young poet, and two thrilling Young Adult Writers, Chloe Gong and Elizabeth Lim.
OCEAN VUONG
The most beautiful part of your body is where it’s headed. And remember, loneliness is still time spent with the world.”
‘Someday I’ll Love Ocean Vuong’ by Ocean Vuong
OCEAN VUONG is a Vietnamese American poet, essayist, and novelist. He was the first in his family to learn to read, at the age of eleven, and has since gone on to win several awards for his poetry, including the T. S. Eliot Prize, and the Whiting Award. Vuong released his debut novel, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous in 2019. An autobiographical novel presented as a series of letters to his illiterate mother, On Earth is a mesmerizing and metaphor-rich coming-of-age story: coming into manhood under the guidance of a distant mother and a playful grandmother spilling with stories and steeped in war, coming into American adulthood as a queer refugee in Connecticut, into love amongst addiction and tobacco farms, and into recovery through writing.
Perhaps it is an offshoot of his practice as a Zen Buddhist but, beyond the intimacy and lyricism that has drawn comparisons with Emily Dickinson, what is most striking in Vuong’s writing is his grounding sensibility that softly urges the reader to remain hopeful and alive, and to seek wonder despite the hurt. His latest release is the New York Times bestselling poetry collection, Time Is A Mother (2022), which he wrote while mourning the death of his mother from breast cancer. Candid and cutting, it is easy to imagine teardrops and bloodstains smudging the ink, the difficulty is in discerning whether they belong to the author or the reader.
For fans of Warsan Shire, Walt Whitman, and Hieu Minh Nguyen
CHLOE GONG
In this life and the next, for however long our souls remain, mine will always find yours.
‘Our Violent Ends’ by Chloe Gong
CHLOE GONG is a New Zealand writer of young adult fiction. Born in Shanghai, China, Gong was raised in Auckland, but preserved her native culture, speaking Shanghainese at home, cooking traditional dishes, and observing Chinese holidays. Gong began writing books at the age of thirteen using the Notes app on her tablet and averaged one manuscript a year before her debut novel was released in 2020.
These Violent Delights was a New York Times best seller, described as a Romeo and Juliet retelling by way of The Godfather set in 1920s Shanghai… but with monsters. Gong has an eclectic writing style with which she imbues this high-paced plot with fascinating historical and political context and moments of tenderness and wisdom. These Violent Delights and its sequel Our Violent Ends (2021) have been mainstays in the BookTok community and Gong has since written spinoff novellas following some of the characters and backstories of the original duology.
In November 2021, Gong announced that she was working on her first books for adults. For the Flesh and False Gods series, Gong again draws inspiration from Shakespeare, this time with an Antony and Cleopatra inspired fantasy series set in China’s Kowloon Walled City. Immortal Longings, the first novel in the series was released in summer 2023. With nine works published since her debut in 2020, Gong looks to have a long and promising writing career.
For fans of Leigh Bardugo, Xiran Jay Zhao, and Sarah J Maas
ELIZABETH LIM
‘Seize the wind,’ I whispered. ‘Don’t become the kite that never flies.’
‘Spin the Dawn’ by Elizabeth Lim
ELIZABETH LIM is a New York Times, Sunday Times, and USA TODAY bestselling author of young adult fiction. She began writing fanfics for Sailor Moon, Sweet Valley, and Star Wars at the age of ten. She then went on to become a film and video game composer after graduating from The Juilliard School with a doctorate in music composition and East Asian Studies. She returned to her first love of storytelling with her debut The Blood of Stars series, which was inspired by the Chinese legend of The Cowherd and the Weaver. Spin the Dawn (2019) and Unravel the Dusk(2020) earned her much critical acclaim and were praised for their vivid worldbuilding and enthralling plot.
Her Six Cimson Cranes series, which includes the 2021 novel of the same name and the follow up The Dragon’s Promise (2022) is inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale The Six Swans. The fantasy duology follows a banished princess on her quest to master her forbidden magic and track down her brothers, who have been transformed into cranes by her sorceress stepmother. Filled with magic and dragons and rich in mythology, Lim has woven a whimsical fairy tale adventure with an original heroine. Her latest release, Her Radiant Curse (2023), is a standalone novel about two sisters, one cursed with a serpent’s face and the other with a beauty that leaves her vulnerable to cruel suitors.
With her passionate prose and her ability to seamlessly blend western and East-Asian folklore, Lim is a must-read author for all fans of fantasy and epics.
For fans of Axie Oh, Sue Lynn Tan, and Alexandra Bracken
Story Time and Craft: Dragons! Dragons! Dragons!
For the first Lunar New Year themed half-term activity, the children had a go at their own dragon themed creations and made some gorgeous wooden puppets and windmills. We also read them the fascinating story, The Dragon Painter retold by Lesley Sims, and learned why you should think twice before drawing eyes on a dragon portrait…
Chinese Calligraphy Workshop with Pei Ying Mandarin School
Next, we were delighted to welcome Anna and Rose from Pei Ying Mandarin School to host our very first Chinese Calligraphy Workshop. The children learned the basics of Chinese stroke order and even managed to write a special Lunar New Year Greeting on festive red paper. Can you guess what the writing on their scrolls says? Leave your answers in the comment section at the end of this post 🙂
If you would like to learn or improve your Mandarin language skills, you can contact Pei Ying Mandarin School to find out more about classes and tuition using the information below.
Website: http://www.peiyingmandarinschool.com
Email: enquiries@peiyingmandarinschool.com
Similarly, if you are interested in teaching Mandarin, we invite you to contact the school via email: mimi.zhang@peiyingmandarinschool.com or telephone: 079 6010 3532.
Still to come….
For those of you interested in linguistics, East Asian Studies, the history of writing systems, or if you simply enjoy learning from passionate specialists, then we have the perfect event for you! On Monday 19th Feb 6pm-7pm at Palmers Green Library, one of our very own librarian will be giving a talk on Chinese Characters: History and Future. All ages welcome from children to adults! Call 0208 379 2727 to book a seat.
Thanks for reading and a massive thank you to all those who have participated in our Lunar New Year Activities and borrowed books from our display so far. We encourage you all to continue to diversify your bookshelf and support the work of East and South East Asian writers this Lunar New Year and beyond by borrowing and requesting items by ESEA authors on display at Palmers Green Library.
We wish you happiness and prosperity this New Year and, as always, we look forward to your next visit.
到时候见 (dào shí hòu jiàn)
R.A.
ENFIELD LIBRARIES 