Podcast
Ink&Quill
Hosted by China Plus · EN
Love reading yet lost
in plenty of literary podcasts out there? Look no further! The weekly program Ink&Quill is the hotchpotch you are
looking for. Produced by bibliophiles from CRI English, the podcast connects
you with literature, culture and writers in China and around the globe. A fun
ride into the literary world, Ink&Quill
blends news, book reviews, Q&As, panel discussions and feature stories,
giving the listeners insight into writers' visions.
11episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
The Powe of Novels
Aug 21, 201800:25:00Tap to summarizeBritish writer Jane Austen once said: novels are "some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best-chosen language. "Hailed by many as the most popular form of contemporary literature, novels not only "heighten our sense and sensibility to the complexities of life and individuals," but also examine the greater truth of humanity with made-up tales. So in today's Ink&Quill, we will take you to explore some extraordinary novels: some of which challenge the conventional norm of fictional writing, whereas some showcase the infinite possibilities in narrative details.
Transcribe →An Encyclopaedia on Chinese Internet Slangs
Aug 10, 201800:11:30Tap to summarizeAs the internet usage becomes ubiquitous, we tend to interact with others more frequently online than offline. Therefore, cyber-slangs such as snatched, YOLO, and Netflix n'chill have been widely spread and used in the English-speaking world.   But how fluent are you in Chinese online expressions?   If you find these terms rather head-scratching or unable to find a satisfying explanation on the Urban Dictionary, in this small segment of Ink&Quill, we will introduce to you a book, which may help you become a connoisseur in Chinese online patois.   Please note that, in this edition, Wu Manling is sitting in for our host Yang Yong.
Transcribe →"Stranger in My Heart" Sheds Light on the Hidden Past of Hong Kong and an Unsung Hero
Aug 3, 201800:25:00Tap to summarizeWe all establish an image of our parents.For British osteopath Mary Monro, her late father John Monro was "a Shropshire farmer, horseman, watcher of the TV news."It was until 2007, at the birthday party of her mother, she found out her father was not the man she once thought he was:"An old friend of the family was talking to me and she said: 'Your father was a 20th century great.' And I was really shocked. I didn't know what she meant. "Some diaries and letters stashed in a drawer led her to discover the answer. It turned out that her father Major John Monro was once a prisoner of war in Japanese-occupied Hong Kong during World War Two and managed to escape to the then Chinese wartime capital Chongqing with two fellow British officers. The man had kept all those experiences in secrecy throughout his life. Almost thirty years after her father's death, Mary Monro published a book that uncovers her father's heroics, titled "Stranger in My Heart."In this episode of Ink&Quill, she shares with our reporter Shiyu her father's unusual story and how she learns much about who she is by retracing her father's escape route.
Transcribe →A Life of Sweet and Sour: A Brit's Love Affair with Chinese Cooking
Jul 27, 201800:32:56Tap to summarizeWhen asked about the reality of human existence, French philosopher Rene Descartes answered by coining his famous dictum--"I think, therefore I am"; yet in the eyes of British cook and food writer Fuchsia Dunlop, for Chinese people, there is always this long-hold philosophy: I eat, therefore I am. Namely "Britain's greatest authority on Chinese food" by The Guardian, Fuchsia Dunlop has written passionately about Chinese culinary culture for over two decades and offered hands-on recipes for her readers to make authentic Chinese food at home. Recently, this celebrated author and Sinophile's memoir, Shark's Fin and Sichuan Pepper, was translated into Chinese. In this episode of Ink&Quill, she joins the conversation with our reporter Shiyu via a phone call to retrace her apprenticeship at a Chinese cooking school, discuss her fondness for Sichuanese cuisine, and how she, a British cook, becomes a true convert to the Chinese way of eating.
Transcribe →The Not-So-Objective Book-to-TV/Film Adaptations Recommendation
Jul 20, 201800:25:00Tap to summarizeAs the temperature rises, nothing can beat the joy of staying in an air-conditioned room, watching TV, and giving your brain some downtime. So in this episode, our book critic Shiyu will be joined by Ningjing and Sirui, both hosts of our daily talk show Studio Plus and moviegoers. The three of them will offer some of their favourite TV shows and movies that are based on books for you to binge on during these sultry summer months.
Transcribe →Books for Summer Reading
Jul 6, 201800:25:00Tap to summarizeThe long, sweltering summer days are nothing but the perfect time for recreational reading. So in this episode, we will introduce some books that may enrich your holiday reading list, ranging from non-fiction, novel, to comic book and science fiction.
Transcribe →Meet China's Only Female Emperor
Jun 29, 201800:35:07Tap to summarizeEmperor Wu, or better known in Chinese as Wu Zetian (武则天) or Wu Zhao (武瞾), is undeniably one of the most riveting and prominent women in the entire history of China. Reining over a vast empire from 690 to 705AD, she was the only female in some two thousand years of China's imperial history who had ever sat on the throne as a ruler in her own right. Some 1,300 years after her death, Wu's unique persona has continued to inspire a great number of plays, films, games, anime, and TV shows, including a 96-episode soap opera that unabashedly applauds her beauty, brain, and strong-mindedness. Yet history has not always been kind to Wu Zetian. For centuries, she has been portrayed as an abominable anomaly: either a sophisticated, succubus-alike seductress, or a lethal, ruthless she-wolf who would murder her own children for power. But who was the real Wu Zetian? How did she rise to power? And why did she, out of all the other powerful women in Chinese history, become the de facto monarch? To investigate the true story of Emperor Wu, in this episode, our reporter Shiyu talks with Professor N. Harry Rothschild from the University of North Florida. He is the author of two books: "Wu Zhao: China's Only Woman Emperor" and "Emperor Wu Zhao and her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers."
Transcribe →China's Epic Martial Arts Fiction Finally Gets English Edition
Jun 22, 201800:35:17Tap to summarizeJin Yong might sound like an unassuming name to foreign audiences; yet according to The New Yorker, in China, he has created "a cultural currency roughly equal to that of 'Harry Potter' and 'Star Wars' combined." Considered one of China's most beloved and best-selling authors still alive, this martial arts fiction guru is now 94 years old and lives in seclusion. Meanwhile, his books continue to inspire numerous TV shows, movies, comic books, anime and video games. However, due to the complexity and ingeniousness of his writings, Jin Yong's novels have long been deemed as impossible to translate. This year, "A Hero Born," the first installment of his legendary series "Legends of the Condor Heroes," was released in English for the first time. This landmark publication also marks the first trade edition of any of Jin Yong's works in English. So in this episode, Shiyu talks with Anna Holmwood, a Chinese and Swedish into English literary translator to discuss Chinese martial arts fiction, as well as the universal appeal of Jin Yong's works in this genre. And as the translator of the Condor Heroes series, what drew her to this Chinese masterpiece?
Transcribe →Why Do We Commemorate Qu Yuan during the Dragon Boat Festival?
Jun 15, 201800:36:12Tap to summarizeJune 18th marks this year's Dragon Boat Festival, a holiday paying homage to Qu Yuan, a Chinese poet who lived from the 4th to the 3rd century BC. Our reporter Shiyu talks with Professor Professor Gopal Sukhu from Queens College, City University of New York to find out why the appetite for celebrating Qu Yuan is still around after some two thousand years.
Transcribe →The Future of Publishing and a Novel Written with Shanghai Accent
Jun 8, 201800:24:15Tap to summarizeAccording to a survey on national reading habits, released in April by the Chinese Academy of Press and Publishing, almost forty per cent of Chinese adults were not satisfied with the amount of books they consume. Many admit that their time for reading has been shrinking due to other attention-grabbing addictions, like social media, video game apps or online shopping sites. Though the survey may not indicate a viable tendency and the statistics could fluctuate next year, these findings still send an alarming signal to the publishing industry that a falloff in reading is imminent.So in today's program, we will examine some of the innovative technologies and ideas that publishers are applying to hold the attention of readers for longer. And later we will look at a novel written in Shanghai dialect.
Transcribe →