Eastlit is an English-language online journal and website focused on
creative writing and art specifically from or connected to
East and South East Asia, including Siberia and Mongolia. The editors now also
offer an electronic supplement covering South Asia: Southlit.
British expat Graham Lawrence, a writer, teacher and publisher, is one of the
co-founders of Eastlit. His own writing includes the eBooks Broken Lines, a collection of tales,
including autobiographical ones, that meander from London to South East Asia, and
Tales from the Village, a collection
of simple stories told to Graham, or else based on incidents witnessed
by him, or actually involving him, on
his Asian travels. Graham, a Brit
married to a Thai woman, is a long-term resident of Thailand. He gave Asian
Books Blog an interview, via e-mail.
Why did you
found Eastlit as an English-language
magazine? Why did you think it was
needed?
The
main aim first of all was to offer local and other writers a better chance at
being published: to give an opportunity to writers never or rarely published
before to tell a story. And having spent almost two decades in South East Asia,
it seemed like something should be given back to a region that had served me
well. My co-founder, Bryn Tennant, thought the same. I would say Eastlit
was needed because there were too few avenues for East and Southeast Asian
writers to tell the stories and poems of their regions and cultures using the
medium of English. Breaking into the closed club of traditional publishing is
not easy for anyone. Of course we also offer publication opportunities to published
writers and those outside the region or diaspora who are focussing on Asia.
Do you have
any concerns about the dominance of English in worldwide publishing? If so:
what are those concerns? If not, why
not?
It
is not just publishing but the cultural imperialism in every facet of life. The
publishing industry as a whole is not one of equality and equal access even to
those who use English. Personally, I love the idea of publication in the local
languages people use, not just nationally mandated languages, but it is a bit
beyond my skill set to do anything about it. There should be diversification
within the publishing industry. The industry itself has to take responsibility
for its own part in assisting in the death knell of local languages that is on-going.
Are you in a
position to help Asian writers who choose to write in Asian languages, either
by organising translation, or by putting them in touch with local-language
publishers? If not, do you have any plans to develop a translation programme?
I
would love to do both but there are financial and time limitations. I have to
live in the real world. If an opportunity came up though, I would definitely do
what I could, and would love to be part of such an exciting project. We have published translations, but these have
been arranged by the author. There have also been translations of pieces
published in English into other languages after we have published them. That
though has been between the author and the new language publisher. We also
published the English translation of A Descendant of the Emperor Shang Tang
by Minglu Zeng, and then after we had published it the original Chinese version
was published quite quickly elsewhere.
What is the
balance between the numbers of pieces you include from Western expats, Asian
expats within Asia, Asian writers living in their home countries, and writers
living outside Asia, but choosing to write about the region?
This has changed since we started. When
we began we were heavy on both Western expats (should that read immigrants?)
and writers living outside Asia but focussing on Asia. However, as time has gone
on both these groups have diminished relative to Asian writers writing from
their home country and writers of the Asian diaspora writing about Asia from
elsewhere. In real numbers the Westerners have increased but the numbers of
Asians has increased by far more. This year we average maybe 35% Asians from
their own country, 35% Asian diaspora but elsewhere, 10% Western
expat/immigrants, 15% Westerners writing about Asia from elsewhere and 5%
others. From what I see of the editorial board votes, there is also a slightly
higher chance now of an Asian writer being chosen for publication over a
Western one.
Are there any
marked differences in choice of theme between the four groups? Do the Western expats write about being
expats? Do people living outside Asia treat it as an exotic and mysterious
region? Are your South Asian writers
fixated on writing about the post-colonial experience?
It
is not easy to generalise. One thing we wanted to avoid when we started out was Western-written man-meets-bad-bar-girl stories, and we haven’t
published many. The South Asian contributors do seem to concentrate a little
more on the post-colonial experience. But on the whole it is people from
different perspectives trying to explore what’s going on in a rapidly changing
and important region. I don’t try to over analyse it.
Can you say a bit about your
editorial board, and how it works?
It consists of a few dozen
people. They are all volunteers, and I rely totally on them. (Thanks, dudes you
know who you are!) The board is exactly 50-50 female/male. Some of the members
have MFA’s while others are just avid readers. We try to get our board to
mirror to some degree the weird eclectic mixes you find among literature lovers.
A majority of the board are not Westerners and a large minority now consists of
non-native speakers and writers of English. The board is divided into teams and
each month each team receives a bunch of things to read. The only instruction I
give the members is: think if you would want to read this piece or not and vote
accordingly. They vote yes/no/don’t know to every piece and then I add up the
votes, so it is a democratic process. There is no conferring in smoke
filled rooms.
What do you think about the rise of
self-publishing, specifically as it relates to authors living in Asia? Do you
see Eastlit as being a
sounding-board, or testing-bed, for authors thinking about self-publication?
Eastlit is basically a self-published journal, and I am a
huge fan of self-publishing. Self-publishing has the ability to do to the
stagnant publishing industry what was done to the stagnant music industry.
Anything new and dynamic will always advance people in a way the decaying
unchallenged traditional cannot. Self-publishing is great
as it means authors and poets no longer need to pander to the whims of the publishing
industry. Any freedom from that institutional fetter to art has to be welcomed.
Poets and authors in Asia are also a long way from the huge publishing industry
of the West and local publishing houses tend to be old, dozy, and too-easily
influenced by money or connections. I would also like to add that I have had
friends and contacts show me their work and I have found some of it amazing and
have advised them to self-publish, but many want to follow the dream, so they approach
an agent or publisher - whereupon they get advised to make wholesale changes! In every case
the end result has been no publication, disillusionment, or a horrible book. My advice to writers is: go for it and self-publish. After all you may
just have the next 50 Shades of Grey, which started out as
self-published eBook.
How do you think contributors see Eastlit?
I don’t really know - this is
more of a question for those contributing to us. I just hope we fill
some small void in what struggling poets, writers and artists need. We get a
mix of contributors who have different reasons to submit. Sometimes I receive e-mails
that are addressed to 200 journals offering the same material. Unless the
material has an overt Asian theme I usually write back personally - no form
letter - and ask the contributor to tell me in a sentence or two how their work
connects to Asia.
Do many of your contributors go on to self-publish?
Some do, yes, and one, Pauline
Lacanilao, has even put on an interactive visual art-poetry exhibition. Whether
those who went on to self-publish were helped by Eastlit I don’t honestly know, but as long as we fill some gap I
guess we will stay relevant and continue to grow and most importantly serve the need we set out to serve.
What about traditional publishing? Have
any of the authors you’ve published gone on to sign traditional publishing
contracts with local publishers as a result of publication in Eastlit?
I have found that in general
traditional publishing houses have kept their distance from us. That is their
choice, and we know we do not fit into their world. We also have absolutely no
intention of forming formal links with any publishing house. If Eastlit assists our contributors in any
way to achieve what they want, that is enough. If publishing houses want to
follow what we are doing and approach our contributors, fine, but we are not
looking to become some part of the industry. That said, we do support new
publishing enterprises that offer authors and poets a chance. Bob D’Costa, one
of our contributors, has just started such a venture in India – Whatabook. Thanks
to Iain on our editorial board, Flora Qian who submitted Massey Hall 1971
to Eastlit had another piece Farewell
to Mr. Caterpillar published in Empty Places of the Bantuan Coffee
Foundation - this organisation supports the victims of child
prostitution in Indonesia. Mai Van Phan, some of whose poems translated from
Vietnamese we published, has had several collections published in Vietnamese. There
have been contributors who have been published by international publishers.
Iain Maloney has had First Time Solo released and Silma Hill is
forthcoming. Anna Yin’s poetry collection Inhaling the Silence is also
available. Once again though, I would not want to claim credit for Eastlit in any way. These publications,
as with all, are down to the poets and writers. I prefer to think of Eastlit as just a small thing that is a
small part of our many contributors' writing lives. Apologies to anyone I’ve forgotten
to mention. There are just so many
successes.
Have contributors found success in non-book formats? Films? Games?
Eastlit contributor L.P. Lee had the short film House
of Locks released while The Pilgrim, first published in Eastlit September 2013, by Simon Rowe
was adapted to a screenplay.
How is Eastlit
funded? Are you supported by grants from
educational establishments, or similar?
Eastlit has absolutely no funding, but is entirely
supported by me with a few donations to help out. It is and will remain a
labour of love only. There are no plans to go commercial in any way. It would
be nice to have some funding but there is no way we will agree to any form of
editorial control or influence.
What are your hopes and ambitions
for Eastlit? How would you like to see it develop over the
next 5 years?
I just hope that in 5 years we are continuing to serve a need for writers, poets and artists focussing on Asia.
I think if we keep an open mind, listen and remain adaptable that is
achievable. I want us to be part of telling the stories that are coming out of
East, Southeast and South Asia.
Anything else
you want to say to writers and readers in Asia, about Eastlit?
We
welcome poetry, fiction, non-fiction and artwork from anyone anywhere focussing
on East, Southeast or South Asia. If anyone has any ideas or proposals please do contact me. I am really looking forward to trying a few new
things in the coming months and years. Contact me on editors@eastlit.com, or via Facebook.
