The Wild East Magazine

A Blessing for the Start of Work on the Chingchuan Community Center

May 16, 2012October 4, 2026Trista di Genova4 Commentsaboriginal culture in Taiwan, Atayal tribe, Barry Martinson, indigenous peoples, Saisiyat tribe, Tobie Openshaw, Wufeng Project

Last year a group of foreigners organized the Wufeng Project, working with aboriginal kids in Wufeng and Chingchuan, Hsinchu County. They gave the kids cameras and their photography was then sold at auction, raising over NT$2 million to renovate a desperately needed community center in Chingchuan. This is the blessing that Father Barry Martinson gave…

Fr. Barry Martinson on his new novel, ‘Ghost Friends’

Expat literature Religion and Spirituality

July 9, 2011October 4, 2026Trista di Genovaaboriginal culture in Taiwan, aboriginal cultures in Taiwan, aboriginal Taiwan, Barry Martinson, expat writers, Hermann Hesse's Steppenwolf, indigenous peoples, writers

Review: Trista di Genova, The Wild East [Edit: Links and images to Bangkok Books no longer works 2015/1/15] This deeply metaphysical adventure picks up where Steppenwolf leaves off, reading as if Hermann Hesse himself had spent a few decades of his life as a Jesuit priest in a remote aboriginal mountain village. The scope of…

Beautiful Island History

May 18, 2011October 4, 2026Trista di Genova1 Commentaboriginal culture in Taiwan, aboriginal peoples, anthropologist Peter Bellwood, Austronesian creation myths, Austronesian language and cultures, Barry Martinson, green island 綠島, indigenous peoples, Japanese in Taiwan, Kuomintang influence on tribal cultures, Lanyu Meteorological Observatory (蘭嶼氣象站), Lou Tsu-k’uang, nuclear, nuclear dumping on Orchid Island, Orchid Island, Orchid Island Lanyu 蘭嶼, Pacific Rim cultures, Phalaenopsis orchids, Presbyterians in Formosa, Small Heavenly Lake (小天池, Taiwan DNA and the Batanes, Taiwan history, Tao tribe, travel, Treaty of Shimonoseki, Xiao tien chih)., Yami, Yeying Village (Ivalino)

Photo: Trista di Genova If the Tao people of Taiwan’s Orchid Island can overcome some modern-day challenges while celebrating and sharing their rich heritage, the future looks bright for this amazing but remote haven. Check out this link at Travel & Culture magazine to read AmCham’s version of this article. By Trista di Genova, The…