THOMAS PODVIN’S FREELANCE WORK
Freelance writer - translator - Editor

Los Angeles-born Anna May Wong (1905-1961) was the most prominent Chinese-American actress during the silent era, though her career extended to the early 60s. From 1919 to 1960, she played in more than fifty US and European movies (The Thief of Baghdad, 1924; Shanghai Express, 1932) with stars such as Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. and Marlene Dietrich. More celebrated in Europe and Japan than in the US or China, Wong, despite her many roles, still suffered from racial typecasting. At the time, the Hollywood system cast whites in Chinese roles, while ‘real’ Chinese were relegated to (often demeaning) supporting parts. In addition, mixed race romance was forbidden on the screen. As a result, Wong’s enormous potential as an actress was never truly given reign, though decades after her death she was given a star on the legendary Hollywood Walk of Fame. In this compelling biography, professor of history Graham Hodges provides copious accounts of the glamour, and the prejudice, that was the fate of many an actor of Chinese descent in the first half of the twentieth century.
Palgrave Macmillan

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
June 2006 issue

(c) that's PRD
PRD Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
June 2006 issue

Since the early 17th century, Westerners have been intrigued with that decorative fairyland known as Chinoiserie. That said, Chinese interior design has been constantly reinterpreted over the centuries, in both the West and in Asia, and China Style presents a fascinating look at how decorators from Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, New York, London and Minneapolis have used this fanciful and elegant style in personal and commercial interiors. Illustrated with photographs by Michael Freeman, this 208-page coffee table book examines Chinese design influences from five periods: the Ming and Qing dynasties; Chinoiserie Old and New, the new Shanghai style, and China Modern. As evidenced in 36 settings ranging from a scholar’s garden to an opium den, and from the imperial palace to a rural home. Such is the sumptuous sheen of Freeman’s work that the text, written by Sharon Leece, the former editor-in-chief of Elle Decoration magazine, is almost superfluous, though she does offers tips on how to achieve the art of Chinese style.
Periplus Editions/available in foreign book stores and at https://peripluspublishinggroup.com/periplus/

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
June 2006 issue

(c) that's PRD
PRD Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
June 2006 issue