Cha: An Asian Literary Journal

Cha: An Asian Literary Journal based in Hong Kong is running a blog series on meeting the writers who will be in their next issue, out later this month. Yesterday they ran one on me for “On Fridays” and stated, “Cha does not normally reprint works (apart from the "Lost Teas" section). So, when we do republish a piece, it has to be very good.”

Talk about raising expectations! They also added a link to my blog series The Story Behind the Story. I think it’s a cool way to introduce the writers and to create momentum (and literary excitement, at least for the writers) in the month leading up to its publication.

You get to read the writers’ bios, their blogs and websites and explore other links to their work. When I first realized what they were doing I naturally began to checkout the other writers whose company I will keep in this issue. I even found a friend in Maraget Lim, who I first met on the set of Kuppa Kopi. Then it dawned on me that she was the one who had recommended that I send something in. I had sent in another story and I thought, why not "On Fridays" and its story behind the story? I was hoping they would see the benefits of both together for their readers.

Plus you get to see what the writers look like. Too often in literary magazines, you get the story, the poem, the essay, a name and a really brief bio, and that’s it. You can only imagine in your mind what the writer looks like (and guess at their age). Now you can see what else they are into, other than merely writing.

So while Cha is introducing me to you, let me introduce you to Cha. Here’s the link to their website and to their blog.

If you’re a writer, note their submission guidelines. and deadlines for several upcoming issues. I did.

I really like what they are doing. They are even highlighting recent publications of those writers who have previously appeared in Cha, proudly keeping them (and now adding me) in the literary family.

*Update, the 20^th anniversary of Lovers and Strangers Revisited

Here are links to some of my author-to-author interviews of first novelists:

Ivy Ngeow author of Cry of the Flying Rhino, winner of the 2016 Proverse Prize.

Golda Mowe author of Iban Dream and Iban Journey.

Preeta Samarasan author of Evening is the Whole Day. 

Chuah Guat Eng,  author of Echoes of Silence and Days of Change. 

Plus:

Five part Maugham and Me series

Beheaded on Road to Nationhood: Sarawak Reclaimed—Part I