"Why can I not sit still? We Tibetans spend our lives sitting like this, every generation without fail does, sitting to chat, sitting to talk business, sitting to read scripture, sitting to bask in the sun, sitting to drink, sitting to get drunk, sitting to craft. And sitting, Lamas pass to the other shore."

Enigmatic Twilight is Tashi Dawa's latest short story collection, which brings together his best stories throughout his career.

In it, he rediscovers Tibet in the overlap between reality and magic.

He writes about its mountains and rivers and about the daily scenes on Lhasa streets: colorful prayer flags fluttering in the winds blowing across the Roof of the World; the tents of the nomadic Khampa; men chewing the fat over sweet butter tea; the old woman pinching her fingers together while she haggles in the market. Then there are the youths that straddle two eras: the civil police officer, the tramp, the nurse, the student, the layabout, the shop assistant—full of vigor or wracked with worry, waiting expectantly or down and out… These stories are true reflections of the times and their character's inner and outer lives.

About the author

Tashi Dawa is an author of mixed Han and Tibetan ancestry, who was born in 1959 in Batang County, Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. His works include the short story collections Tibet: A Soul Tied on a Leather Belt, Tibet: The Secret Years, The Call of a Century, and Shambhala Astir; the prose essay collection Ancient Aquamarine Prayer Flags; and several screenplays. His works have been translated into over a dozen languages. He currently chairs the Tibetan Autonomous Region Federation of Literary and Art Circles and serves as Vice-Chairman of the Tibet Autonomous Region Political Consultative Conference.