Guest Newsletter: Five Books

Endangered Languages

Of the world's 7000 languages, around half are expected to be extinct by the end of this century. Samantha Ellis's mother tongue is one of them. We asked her to reflect on what we lose when we lose a way of speaking—culturally, linguistically, emotionally—and to recommend five books about endangered languages. Read more

The Best 20th-Century Chinese Fiction

While rooted in specific Chinese contexts, these books transcend cultural boundaries and speak to universal questions about dignity, freedom, identity, and the longing to be seen, says novelist and writer Lijia Zhang. She talks us through five of the best works of fiction to come out of mainland China in the twentieth century. Read more