<p>新年快樂 (Xīnnián kuàilè) from Formosa Files! As we head into the Year of the Horse, we have something different: pirates in the Taiwan Strait, both factual and fictional. We look at a <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/761160/summary" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Japanese woman who became a notorious pirate leader</a> in the 1930s. And we follow<strong> the Shadow, </strong>a mysterious crime-fighter whose 1945 novel <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35080227-the-taiwan-joss" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><em>The Taiwan Joss</em></a> centers around a jewel-studded statue of Koxinga (the Ming loyalist who defeated the Dutch in Tainan in the 1660s).</p><p><br></p><p>Speaking of fiction, <a href="https://www.plumrainpress.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Plum Rain Press</a> – our publishing side-venture – released three new titles last year: <a href="https://www.plumrainpress.com/product-page/china-running-dog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><em>China Running Dog</em></a>, <a href="https://www.plumrainpress.com/product-page/sahar" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><em>The Cuttlefish</em></a>, and <a href="https://www.plumrainpress.com/product-page/the-wondrous-elixir-of-the-two-chinese-lovers" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><em>The Wondrous Elixir of the Two Chinese Lovers</em></a>. Readers thirsting for a historical novel set in Taiwan should get our debut release, <a href="https://www.plumrainpress.com/product-page/a-tale-of-three-tribes-in-dutch-formosa" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><em>A Tale of Three Tribes in Dutch Formosa</em>.</a></p><p><br></p><p>Other Formosa Files spin-offs which might be of interest are: the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyLNVySQA2g&list=PLziWTY9vRYnt5W20Yz2-VgMlfw2nFshT7&index=73" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Chinese-language version of Formosa Files</a> which American Eryk does with Taiwanese Eric. John is involved with two other podcasts: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/tw/podcast/bookish-asia-with-plum-rain-press/id1756322103" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Bookish Asia </a>with Plum Rain Press, and more recently the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/0oXuYK0Jg4dZBaSt3h9YAL" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Books on Asia podcast</a>. And <strong>Eryk has launched an </strong><a href="https://www.kaohsiungtimes.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer"><strong>English-language newspaper</strong></a><strong> for southern Taiwan.</strong></p><p><br></p><p>Warm wishes from the Formosa Files team,</p><p><strong>Eric, Eryk, and John  </strong></p>