Boast reminds us that “there is a recurring sense of possibility and the chance, always, for change,” even if that change arrives with the violence of a breaking visor on the lunar surface. Elegant, slightly lugubrious, and entirely necessary, Boast’s stories remind us that we are all, in some way, waiting for the world to right itself.

In this insightful interview, Tony Huang, editor-in-chief of The Hong Kong Review, sits down with poet and writer Fiona Sze-Lorrain to discuss her latest work, Dear Chrysanthemums. Their conversation delves into the moral challenges of fictionalizing politically charged histories, the nuanced role of music and poetry in storytelling, and how culinary and cultural traditions sustain diasporic identities.

When I talked to many elders, they always said, “aage badhna ka naam zindagi hai” — life is about moving forward. We can’t keep looking back at the past.