1. The Decree by Farha Hasan
"Slightly old-fashioned. Sophisticated. Graceful in its narration. The story breaks into layers and adds interest. There is neat symmetry to the narrator's thoughts. The writer was knowledgeable about her subject. There is a wordplay of both 'shadow and light' to her story."Farha Hasan is a librarian living and working in Boston. She has come back to writing fiction after a brief stint in advertising where she was involved in copywriting, casting and strategic planning. Her short stories have been published or are forthcoming in various e-zines and small circulation presses such as, the Binnacle, Toasted Cheese, Wild Violet, Skyline Magazine, and the South Asian Review. She has recently completed her first novel. You can read more about Farha on her website www.farhahasan.com
2. Brothers by O Thiam Chin
"Refreshing. The writer has a flawless ability to convey the poignancy and tragedy of life without laboured effort or fuss."O Thiam Chin’s short stories have appeared in Asia Literary Review, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Kyoto Journal, The Jakarta Post, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Karavan, Qarrtsiluni as well as in several literary anthologies. He is the author of two story collections, ‘Free-Falling Man’ and ‘Never Been Better,’ and his new collection of flash fiction will be published in 2010. He is currently a fellow at the Iowa International Writing Program.
About our esteemed judge. Susan Abraham is a Malaysian-Indian writer, currently based in Dublin, Ireland. She is also a traveller and mountaineer on the East African trails. Recently, she was invited by by YouWriteOn.com Publishing London to submit two book titles for publication. She was one of 200 writers chosen in a Publishing Round. In the past, Susan Abraham has worked as a magazine journalist in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, and has produced radio plays for Radio Malaysia and poetry for a few press magazines in Britain.
Invitation:
Asia Writes features select poetry and short fiction by Asian/mixed-Asian writers. So far, we have featured works by award-wining writers (Palanca, Academy of American Poets Award, Sahitya, Meritage, Unisun-Reliance); Pushcart, Missisauga, Man Asia Prize nominees; previous Iowa, Charles Wallace, Hawthornden, PEN USA, Kundiman and other international/ reputable local workshop fellows; editors of literary journals; and other important literary figures in Asia.
You may submit your polished/proofread works in English and a third-person bio (which may include a photo and links to your books/personal website) to editors@asiawrites.org. Previously unpublished works OR those that have not appeared on the web are preferred. We recommend that you read some works that we have featured HERE for you to have a feel of the quality of works we accept.
Reading of submissions is year round and since we would like to reserve only the best works, you can expect a quick reply. Response time is 48 hours for accepted works. We feature works every other day and we inform the author one day at least prior to the publication of his/her work(s).
Watch out for:
Our announcement of nominated works for Best of the Web (a different anthology from Best of the Net) and Pushcart's Best of the Small Presses. Works that we will feature until October 2010 are eligible for Best of the Web nomination, and until December 2010 for Pushcart Prize.
