ESEA Authors LitFest 2023

In celebration of  September as East and Southeast Asian Heritage Month,  ESEA authors and artists will gather to talk about British-ESEA literature, postcolonial writing, the diaspora, and all the people and places we call home.

Come join our celebration of new, exciting ESEA novels in the UK, from children’s and YA fiction, to adult fiction — literary, fantasy, speculative, and crime. Meet some wonderful ESEA authors, panel chats about curating culture, ESEA representation in fantasy and science fiction, writing the colonial story and writing in English. We will also have  book signings, refreshments, prizes and lots of ESEA snacks! More details about the event can be found on The Bubble Tea Writer’s Network website.

Programme

Introductions and Welcome Note (3:00pm)

Panel 1: Curating Culture: Whose authenticity? Whose gaze? (3:20pm)

Living in the diaspora, we reconstruct our homelands for a global audience. Are we authentic enough to write stories drawn from our culture? Do we count movement and exchange as culture? How are we seen? How do we see ourselves? And what about the impact of the white gaze and internal biases on both readers and writers?

Lucy Tandon Coop (forthcoming picture book), Natelle Quek (Wild Wild Woods, The Little Mermaid), Anne Elicaño Shields (Tales from the City), Ella King (Bad Fruit). Chaired by Eva Wong Nava (The House of Little Sisters)

Panel 2: Do the SciFi-Fantasy Genre Mash-Up (4:30pm)

From pop culture, sourceland mythology and traditional genres like xianxia, to hit K, C and J-dramas, SFF authors discuss creating genre mash-ups and fresh takes on familiar tropes from a kaleidoscope of diasporic inspiration.

Yen Ooi (Sun: Queens of Earth), Mina Ikemoto Ghosh (Hyo the Hellmaker - March 2024), Pim Wangtechawat (The Moon Represents My Heart). Chaired by A.Y. Chao (Shanghai Immortals)

Panel 3: The Real English Deal ... or No Deal? (5:40pm)

Manglish, Singlish, Taglish — how valid is the hyphenated tongue? How can we claim ownership of language in our writing? This panel will discuss reclaiming the English language in its many diverse forms. All italics banned in this panel discussion.

Nadia Mikail (The Cats We Meet Along the Way), Candy Gourlay (Wild Song), Tania Tay (aka Crystal Sung, author of Spellcasters). Chaired by Elizabeth Wong (We Could Not See the Stars)

Panel 4: Telling Our Colonial Story (6:50pm)

Authors of fiction and non fiction for all ages and genres discuss the oftentimes painful task of excavating the ESEA story from colonial histories written by invaders and colonisers, trying to see humanity in those that have been dehumanised, and crafting a story that is fair as well as true.

Zen Cho (Black Water Sister), Cat Aquino (Champion of the Rose), Eva Wong Nava, (House of Little Sisters), L. Kiew (More Than Weeds). Chaired by Candy Gourlay (Wild Song)

Registration

The event will be held onsite at SOAS. To guarantee a place for the panels, you must get a ticket for each panel. Tickets are free but donations are appreciated. Please register using the link above.

Organisers

This event is organised by authors from The Bubble Tea Writer’s Network with Dr Cristina Juan and Philippine Studies at SOAS.