Elisa

Elisa Shua Dusapin’s third novel, first published in French in 2020, is a quiet, meditative story of shared endeavour. Though gentle, its emotional complexity means it is Dusapin’s most accomplished work yet. Ironically, its gentleness also makes it a forceful riposte to the individualism and competitiveness that can dominate social and working life. And with its international cast and narrative of cooperation, it is particularly resonant in this moment of proliferating geopolitical conflict.Vladivostok Circus is narrated…

While going through stills, this one from Smoking Causes Coughing just stood out.Image: Fantastic FestThree years have passed since io9 traveled to Austin, Texas for a week of fun, fucked up films. The event is Fantastic Fest, one of the coolest, most unique genre film festivals in the entire world—and this year, it’s finally back in full force. For several days, we’ll be spending hours upon hours in the dark, watching mostly movies no one outside of the festival circuit has ever heard of. Which makes choosing difficult.…

In February 2020, an understated debut of disquieting power slid into British bookshops: Winter in Sokcho, by a young Franco-Korean author. Sensitively translated from French by Aneesa Abbas Higgins, it won the US National Book award for translated literature. In Elisa Shua Dusapin’s second novel, The Pachinko Parlour, Claire, a Korean-Swiss graduate student just shy of 30, spends an insomniac summer treading water in Tokyo while visiting her grandparents, Korean immigrants who own a pachinko parlour. Japan’s 20,000-plus…