Joyce Chng has written an interesting post on being A straddler between worlds that deserves your attention.
It’s an interesting look at how writers from post colonial societies are expected to act, and what they are expected to write about to be accepted by the literary scene both at home and abroad.
To quote another article she links to in her post:
Let’s start with my last name. It immediately signifies that I am not white. I am ethnic Chinese, my forebears immigrants from China. So, am I supposed to write literary fiction about tumultuous struggles out of Communist China or craft a tale about mother-daughter relationships ala Joy Luck Club? I write speculative fiction—genre fiction isn’t well received by local publishers. I can’t force myself to write literary fiction. It isn’t me.
When you think Genre might not be respected in Australia by the wider literary scene, spare a thought for our northern cousins.
She also signal boosts a peerbacker project called We See a Different Frontier a special issue/anthology of colonialism-themed speculative fiction from outside the first-world viewpoint, co-edited by Fabio Fernandes and published by The Future Fire.
Worth checking out and perhaps pitching in.
Did you enjoy this review? Would you like to read more? You can subscribe to the blog through a reader,by Email or Follow me on twitter.
