Wu Zetian
Book Nook: Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow series
January 30, 2025By: Phone Min Thant, Staff Writer Content warning: brief mentions of murder and war. Those familiar with Chinese history are probably no stranger to Empress Wu Zetian, the only legitimate empress of The Middle Kingdom. But, did you know there is a connection between Zetian and SFU? This connection is none other than Xiran Jay Zhao (the name may be familiar for those who frequent BookTok), an SFU health sciences alum whose fictionalized sci-fi duology reimagines Zetian. Their books, Iron Widow and Heavenly Tyrant, have both achieved number one spots on the New York Times bestsellers lists. To put into…
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Iron Widow is a searing debut novel
January 24, 2022By: Kelly Chia, Staff Writer Iron Widow is a historical reimagination of Wu Zetian, China’s only woman emperor, set in a society and culture that resembles pre-colonial China. Portrayed as an 18 year old girl, Zetian is sent to fight…
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Being an Asian immigrant in Canada
June 7, 2021by Nancy La, Staff Writer One of the few memories l have from first immigrating to Canada was my sister teaching me the English alphabet. We had just landed in YVR less than 12 hours before and we were both jet-lagged,…
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