Mekong Review
Mekong Review is a quarterly English-language magazine of arts, literature, culture, politics, the environment, and society in Asia, written by people from the region or those who know it well. From its founding in 2015, its aim has been to provide a fresh perspective: one that covers Asian histories, lives, and cultures through emerging regional voices. Its approach is close to that of publications like The New York Review of Books and The London Review of Books—that is, basing its writing around new publications of interest—but its view is distinctly Asian. Its founding editor is Minh Bui Jones.
Last Updated: February 1, 2022
Culture
09.12.22
Forbidden Writer
from Mekong Review
From his humble beginnings as a propaganda writer, Yan Lianke has gone on to become among China’s most controversial writers—one whose work is frequently censored for its focus on the lives of those devastated by Beijing’s policies. “When people are...
Culture
08.15.22
Hong Kong Type
from Mekong Review
Over the past few years, readers, writers, and publishers in Hong Kong have become interested in the city’s history. New books about colonial figures, societal events, and relics not covered in textbooks have proliferated, dominating independent...
Viewpoint
02.03.22
Keeping the Flies Out
from Mekong Review
The first time I rode a public bus in China, in 1985, a young woman came up to me and ran her hand up and down my arm to feel the body hair. Foreigners were like rare animals then: precious, strange, probably dangerous. Surveillance was constant and...