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Dr Michael Tsang

Positions held:
  • Senior Lecturer, School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
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  • Overview

    Overview

    Biography

    Michael Tsang is Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies. Prior to 糖心logo入口, his previous academic experiences were at Newcastle University - where he was Leverhulme Early Career Fellow based at the School of Modern Languages - the University of Warwick, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

    His research interests lie in 1) world and postcolonial literatures and 2) popular cultures, both with an East Asian focus.

    He is the co-editor of? (with Gitte Marianne Hansen, Routledge, 2021), and has been published in various journals and volumes such as?Japan Forum,?Inter-Asia Cultural Studies,?Wasafiri,?Sanglap, and others.?He is a founding co-editor of? (Chinese University Press), the world's only bilingual academic journal specifically devoted to Hong Kong. He is also staff reviewer at , where he has established an extensive profile of reviews of Asian literature.

    He is also a writer, publishing poetry and prose with Asian themes.

    Highlights

    • Invited?Speaker for READ@PolyU, campus-wide reading programme of Hong Kong Polytechnic University,?4 November 2022.

      Talk?title: A Magical and Critical Journey to Haruki Murakami's Literature

    • Co-edited volume,?Murakami Haruki and Our Years of Pilgrimage?(Routledge, 2021)

      This is one of the first edited volumes on the iconic Japanese writer Murakami Haruki, combining cutting-edge research from scholars around the world and taking stock of Murakami's literary career in the past four decades.?

    • Leverhulme Postdoctoral Fellow, 2018-2021

      ?I was awarded the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship for my research project, 'World Literature and 20th Century East Asia: A Bibliomigrancy Approach'.

    • Keynote Speaker, (Re)defining the Intersection: Hong Kong Textuality conference, University of Sheffield, 25 January 2019.

      Speech title: A Minor Literature(?) at Interregnum: Whither Hong Kong’s English Writing?

    • Co-founder and managing editor,?Hong Kong Studies

      Published bi-annually by the Chinese University Press,?Hong Kong Studies?is the world's first bilingual academic journal devoted to academic research on Hong Kong's culture, society, and politics.?

    Web profiles

    Administrative responsibilities

    • Home and International Recruitment and Admissions Lead, School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
    • Programme Director, BA in Japanese Studies, Graduate Diploma in Japanese Studies
    • Japanese and Korean Language Coordinator

    Professional memberships

    • Member, Modern Languages Association

    • Member, British Association of Japanese Studies

    • Member, British Comparative Literature Association

    • Member, American Comparative Literature Association

    Honours and awards

    • Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning 糖心logo入口, University of London, May 2026
    • Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation Awards, May 2024
    • Japan Foundation Endowment Committee Grant, May 2024
    • Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship Leverhulme Trust, May 2018
    • 'Eyes on Murakami Haruki' project, with Dr Gitte Marianne Hansen. The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation Grant The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, May 2018
    • Summer Research Fund Humanities Research Centre, University of Warwick, May 2017

    ORCID

  • Research

    Research

    Research interests

    • East Asian literatures
    • East Asian popular cultures
    • World literature
    • Postcolonial theory
    • Gender studies
    • Critical theory

    Research clusters and groups

    • Steering Group (2019-2021),

    Research projects

    World Literature In and Through Early 20th-Century Japan: Publishers, Libraries, Book Circulation.

    Abstract

    Funded by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation, Japan Foundation Endowment Committee, the Leverhulme Trust's Early Career fellowship and others, this project investigates how political, economic and cultural contact with the West helped revolutionise a literary culture in 20th-century Japan and China. Drawing on B. Venkat Mani's framework of 'bibliomigrancy' (2017), which pays attention to the materiality of books and libraries in the global circulation of books, I examine how literary contact with the West inspired the emergence of book series, bookstores, magazines, and libraries in 20th-century China and Japan, shaping the two countries' literary cultures.

    Literary and cultural contact, I argue, did not only take place on the level of content (e.g. how one writer's work or style inspires another writer's), but also occurred at the broader level of the book industry, whether it's the printing (publishing houses), selling (bookstores), or storing (libraries) of books. A discussion of world literature cannot disregard the agencies and subjectivities of those involved in these processes.

    Abstract

    Prior to my Leverhulme?Postdoctoral Fellowship, I was Research Associate on the AHRC-funded Gendering Murakami project?in 2018, which coincided with the 40th anniversary of the moment when the Japanese novelist Murakami Haruki first came up with the idea of writing a novel. The project examined several key aspects in Murakami's work, including transmediality, gender relations, and politics.

    Outcomes

    Public outreach: The project boasts a on the works of Murakami, held in Newcastle in March 2018, including a translation workshop, translation symposium, film screening, art exhibition, visiting scholar programme, and 2-day international conference.

    Academic publication:?

    2021. Murakami Haruki and Our Years of Pilgrimage?(co-edited with Gitte Marianne Hansen). Routledge.

    2020. 40 Years with Murakami Haruki?(co-edited with Gitte Marianne Hansen). Special issue of Japan Forum,?vol. 32, no. 3.

    At Interregnum: Hong Kong and its English Writing

    Abstract

    Doctoral research project funded by Chancellor's International Scholarship, University of Warwick, 2012-14.

  • Supervision and teaching

    Supervision and teaching

    Supervision

    Supervisions external to 糖心logo入口:
    1
    Supervisions within 糖心logo入口:
    4

    I welcome prospective PhD applicants in these areas:

    • Modern and contemporary Japanese literature
    • Popular culture in Japan/East Asia
    • Contemporary East Asian literatures (e.g. Chinese, Korean, diasporic)
    • Hong Kong society/culture/literature
    • Gender and East Asia
    • Theories of postcolonial and/or world literature
    • World literature with an Asian focus

    Current doctoral researchers

    • ZHUI NING CHANG
      Nature of supervision:
      JOINT PRINCIPAL SUPERVISOR,
    • BENNY CHAN
      Nature of supervision:
      JOINT PRINCIPAL SUPERVISOR,
    • ANDREA GUALERZI
      Nature of supervision:
      JOINT PRINCIPAL SUPERVISOR,
      Title of thesis:
      n/a

    Doctoral alumni since 2013-14

    • SERENA CENICCOLA
      Nature of supervision:
      Joint Principal Supervisor,
      Title of thesis:
      'Nanigode kangaeteiruka': A Comparative Study of Multilingualism, Loneliness, and Hybridity in Japanese contemporary literature and literary-adjacent media.
      Description:

      ?

      ?

      Awarded:
      2024

    Teaching

    I have more than 10 years of teaching experience in higher education settings in multiple countries. My main areas of teaching are in Japanese and East Asian literatures, popular culture, society; postcolonial literatures, world literature, and literary theory and criticism; East Asian languages (Japanese and Chinese) and academic writing in English. Here is a list of modules I have taught previously:

    School of Modern Languages, Newcastle University

    • Surveying East Asian Literatures
    • Introduction to Japanese History and Society
    • Contemporary Japanese Popular Culture
    • Literary and Cultural Expressions in Contemporary Japan
    • Japanese-English translation

    Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies, The University of Warwick

    • Modern World Literatures
    • Global City Literature
    • New Literatures in English
    • Modes of Reading

    Department of English, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

    • Gender and Literature
    • Introduction to Literature
    • Renaissance to Enlightenment


    The following are the 糖心logo入口 modules I convene and/or teach:

    Teaching modules

    • Imagining the Nation
    • The Arts: Perspectives and Possibilities
    • Rethinking Japan: Introduction to Modern Japanese Society and Culture (Level 4)
    • Popular Culture of East Asia (Level 5)
    • Advanced Seminar in Japanese Linguistics and Translation
    • Manga and Anime (Level 6)
    • Film and Politics (Level 5)
    • Doing Languages, Cultures and Applied Linguistics
    • Studying Comparative Literary and Cultural Studies in Modern Languages
    • Culture and Image
    • Culture and Text: 'Imagined Communities'
  • Publications

    Publications

    Article

    • Tsang, Michael (2024) . Transtext(e)s Transcultures: Journal of Global Cultural Studies 18, ISSN 2105-2549.
    • Hansen, G.M. and Tsang, Michael (2020) . Japan Forum 32 (3), pp. 404-431. ISSN 0955-5803.
    • Tsang, Michael and Fung, D. (2019) . Education About Asia 24 (1), pp. 22-27. ISSN 1090-6851.
    • Tsang, Michael (2017) . Sanglap: Journal of Literary and Cultural Inquiry 4 (1), pp. 9-23. ISSN 2349-8064.
    • O'Sullivan, M. and Tsang, Michael (2015) . Inter-Asia Cultural Studies 16 (3), pp. 454-469. ISSN 1469-8447.
    • Tsang, Michael (2014) . Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature 8 (2), pp. 36-56. ISSN 1985-3106.
    • Tsang, Michael (2011) . 日本学刊 14, pp. 224-238.

    Book

    • Hansen, G.M. and Tsang, Michael, eds. (2021) . Routledge. ISBN 9780367181413.

    Book review

    • Tsang, Michael (2022) .

    Book section

    • Tsang, Michael (2025) . In: Milburn, J.T. (ed.) Haruki Murakami and Philosophical Concepts. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 95-101. ISBN 9783031896453.
    • Tsang, Michael (2022) . In: Bhattacharya, A. and Hibbitt, R. and Scuriatti, L. (eds.) Literary Capitals in the Long Nineteenth Century: Spaces beyond the Centres. Literary Urban Studies. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 61-86. ISBN 9783031130595.
    • Hansen, G.M. and Tsang, Michael (2021) . In: Hansen, G.M. and Tsang, Michael (eds.) Murakami Haruki and Our Years of Pilgrimage. Routledge. pp. 1-9. ISSN 9780367181413. ISBN 9780367181413.
    • Tsang, Michael (2021) . In: Hansen, G.M. and Tsang, Michael (eds.) Murakami Haruki and Our Years of Pilgrimage. Routledge. pp. 109-126. ISBN 9780367181413.
    • Tsang, Michael (2019) . In: Holca, I. and T?ma?, C.S. (eds.) Japan in the World, The World in Japan: A Methodological Approach. Editura Pro Universitaria. pp. 78-100. ISBN 9786062610876.
    • Tsang, Michael (2018) . In: R?sch, F. and Watanabe, A. (eds.) Japanese Political Thought and International Relations: Encounters of Difference in Japan since the Meiji Restoration. Global Dialogues: Non Eurocentric Visions of the Global. Rowman and Littlefield. pp. 221-251. ISBN 9781786603678.
    • Tsang, Michael (2018) . In: Doyle, M. (ed.) The British Empire: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. pp. 33-35. ISBN 9781440841972.
    • O'Sullivan, M. and Tsang, Michael (2016) . In: O'Sullivan, M. (ed.) Academic Barbarism, Universities and Inequality. Palgrave Critical University Studies. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 120-142. ISBN 9781137547606.
    • Tsang, Michael (2015) . In: O'Sullivan, M. and Huddart, D. and Lee, C. (eds.) The Future of English in Asia: Perspectives on Language and Literature. Routledge Studies in World Englishes. Routledge. pp. 173-189. ISBN 9781138805071.

    Conference item

    • Tsang, Michael (2023) . American Comparative Literature Association Convention, 2023, Chicago, U.S.
    • Tsang, Michael (2023) . Symbols of Japan; Japan as Symbols, 2023, Cardiff, UK
    • Tsang, Michael (2022) . READ@PolyU, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2022, Online
    • Tsang, Michael (2022) . Unknown Futures: A Seminar on Hong Kong, 2022, Copenhagen, Denmark
    • Tsang, Michael (2021) . Modern Language Association (MLA) Convention 2021, 2021, Online
    • Tsang, Michael (2020) . Centre of for Japanese Studies Seminar, 2020, University of East Anglia
    • Tsang, Michael (2019) . American Comparative Literature Association (ACLA) Convention, 2019, Washington DC, U.S.
    • Tsang, Michael (2019) . (Re)defining the Intersection: Hong Kong Textuality, 2019, Sheffield, UK
    • Tsang, Michael (2018) . Asian Studies Conference Japan 2018, 2018, Mitaka, Japan
    • Tsang, Michael (2018) . Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, 2018, Sydney, Australia
    • Tsang, Michael (2018) . World Literature as Crisis: Subalternity and Urbanity, 2018, London, UK
    • Tsang, Michael (2018) . Global Japanese Studies Seminar, 2018, Tokyo, Japan
    • Tsang, Michael (2017) . World Literature and Crisis: Subalternity and Urbanity, 2017, Singapore
    • Tsang, Michael (2017) . Peripheral Postcolonialities, 2017, Warwick, UK
    • Tsang, Michael (2016) . Modern Language Association (MLA) Convention, 2016, Austin, U.S.
    • Tsang, Michael (2016) . International Studies Association (ISA) Asia-Pacific Conference 2016, 2016, Hong Kong
    • Tsang, Michael (2016) . Invited Guest Lecture for Hong Kong Stories in English, 2016, Hong Kong
    • Tsang, Michael (2015) . International Conference on the History of Hong Kong, 2015, Hong Kong
    • Tsang, Michael (2014) . British Comparative Literature Association (BCLA) Postgraduate Conference: Alternatives, 2014, Glasgow, UK
    • Tsang, Michael (2013) . Race. Migration. Citizenship: Postcolonial and Decolonial Perspectives, 2013, Birmingham, UK
    • Tsang, Michael (2011) . The Asian Conference on Cultural Studies 2011, 2011, Osaka, Japan
    • Tsang, Michael (2011) . Wednesday Gender Seminar Series, 2011, Hong Kong

    Editorial

    • Hansen, G.M. and Tsang, Michael (2020) . Japan Forum 32 (3), pp. 311-315. Taylor and Francis. ISSN 0955-5803.
    • Hansen, G.M. and Tsang, Michael (2020) . Japan Forum 32 (3), pp. 316-317. Taylor and Francis. ISSN 0955-5803.

    Other

    • Tsang, Michael (2023) . WHERE ELSE: An International Hong Kong Poetry Anthology. Verve Poetry Press. [Poem].
    • Tsang, Michael (2021) . Newcastle University [Essay].
    • Katō, N. and Tsang, Michael (2020) . Japan Forum. [Academic translation].
    • Tsang, Michael (2016) . Cha: An Asian Literary Journal. [Essay].
  • Business and community

    Business and community

    Media

    I am happy to receive enquiries from the media on the following topics:

    • Murakami Haruki
    • Japanese literature
    • Hong Kong literature, politics, culture and society
    • Japanese popular culture - manga and anime
    • East Asian popular culture
    • East Asian literature
    • Korean pop culture

    Outreach

    OUTREACH ON JAPANESE LITERATURE/CULTURE

    -On 23 January 2026, I spoke at the event '', organised by Japan Foundation London at the University of Leicester and featuring?Joanna Dare (De Montfort) and Nana Sato-Rossberg (SOAS). The event recording can be .

    -In January 2026, I was quoted in on Stylist (paywall) on the Japanese concept of micro-season.

    -In November 2025, I gave a public-facing talk on '' as part of Gathering Leaves Hong Kong's 2025 Book Fair.

    -In 2023 I was quoted in on the popularity of Japanese novelist Murakami Haruki.

    -For my co-edited volume, , I organised an with Japan Society UK on 15 December 2021.

    -An of mine on the influence of?Murakami Haruki's egg-versus-wall metaphor on the Hong Kong pro-democracy protests has generated several outreach opportunities.

    • I wrote a blogpost entitled '' on the blog Hong Kong Insight, hosted by the Hong Kong Studies Association, in December 2019. In this post I revisited and updated the earlier publication on the latest happenings in the Hong Kong protests.
    • In collaboration with 'Beyond Japan', a podcast series hosted by the Centre for Japanese Studies, University of East Anglia, I talked about Murakami and the Hong Kong protests in this .

    -In 2019, I contributed to an open-access teaching resource developed by Japan Society on Manga. The full resource is and my contribution appears in the file 'Manga Key Questions [Teachers' Notes].

    OUTREACH ON HONG KONG

    -In April 2026, I interviewed poet Jennifer Wong on her new collection for?Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, .

    • Also on 21 February 2026, I moderated the poetry event 'connecting our (many) selves: a poetry exploration and Launch of Jennifer Wong's?Light Year' featuring Jennifer and another poet Sean Wai Keung, held at Gathering Leaves Hong Kong.

    -Since 2025, I have been leading events for Gathering Leaves Hong Kong, a community library for Hongkongers based at Belsize Community Library.

    -For Arts Week 2025, I organised the event 'An Evening of Hong Kong Anglophone Poetry' featuring poets Jennifer Wong and Eric Yip.

    -I read my poems at '', organised by Gathering Leaves Hong Kong at Belsize Community Library, on 5 October 2024.

    -I was for my poem 'Reading Louise Ho on the MTR', published in Where Else - An International Hong Kong Poetry Anthology (2023). The interview was conducted by Elizabeth E. Chung and was published in the 'Writing Hong Kong' special issue of Writing Chinese: A Journal of Contemporary Sinophone Literature (Volume 2, Issue 1).

    -In tandem with my on Hong Kong's earliest Chinese newspaper, Gems from Near and Afar, I published a in October 2023 for 'Hong Kong Insight', the blog of Hong Kong Studies Association.

    -I was a panelist on the public-facing roundtable: ‘Jeffrey Wasserstrom – Hong Kong’s Struggle 2003-2023: A Roundtable’ as part of Wasserstrom’s Leverhulme Visiting Fellowship hosted here at 糖心logo入口.

    -I have been quoted in the Bloomberg article ‘’ on 28 January 2022.

    OTHER OUTREACH / RESEARCH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT (Postcolonial; Comparative; East Asian; Creative Writing)

    -I am a staff reviewer at the online Asian-themed literary magazine . A complete list of my extensive profile of literary reviews can be found on my .

    -For Arts Week 2026, I organised '30 Years of Edward Yang's Mahjong', screening the Taiwanese director's 1996 film in upscaled quality. The introduction and post-screening discussion were led by Dr Carrie Poon (Newcastle).?

    -On 12 April 2026, I contributed to an with poet Maria Cohut in celebration of the launch of her poetry collection,?Multiple Exposures.

    -On 20 January 2026, I contributed to a talk on '' together with my PhD student Zhui Ning Chang, hosted by writer Yin Lo and Kakilang.

    -In July 2025, I moderated a on Camden poet Chris Bird's poetry collection, Transmissions (Write London, 2025), hosted at Belsize Community Library. The talk was presented by Write London founder Tom Mallender.

    -On 13 May 2022, I was invited to speak at 'Modern Languages and Inclusivity: Sharing Ideas and Practices', the 2022 AMLUK symposium organised by the Institute of Modern Languages Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London. A report and YouTube sessions on the day can be found .

    -I was interviewed by the British Comparative Literature Association 'Comparatively Speaking' series, which can be .

    -I am a co-editor on , a blog that I started with colleagues at School of Modern Languages, Newcastle University. The blog runs public-facing posts that discuss decolonial issues and examine different decolonial contexts.

    • I also wrote a popular post for the blog, titled '' on 21 January 2021.

    CREATIVE WRITING

    I am also a creative writer. Here are some platforms where my work has appeared:

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