Published Writers

Posted on 18 June, 2013 by Graham

Well this month sees just a few news items mixed in with a couple of writers we have featured being published in print! More on that later. I also need to briefly outline some changes. I am sure most of you have seen the changes to the submissions page concerning photographs, visual and the editorial board.

Editorial Board

Since Bryn has departed, I have added some extra members to our editorial board. They are Iain Maloney, Xenia Taiga, Arkava Das and Stuart Coward. There a few others still under consideration.

The board will read and decide on publication of all submitted pieces that meet Eastlit guidelines. Not every board member will be involved every month.

Eastlit Published Writers

It is great to be able to say a couple of our more regular contributors have recently had books published.

Anna Yin

Anna has just seen the publication of a collection of her poems by Mosaic Press. We wish her all the best and hope that her exceptional poetry gets the attention and recognition it deserves. It is always nice to see work that takes the influences of the region get published. Well done Anna. You can find interviews, news and events on her website.

Here is some promotional information:

Inhaling the Silence is another of Anna Yin’s fine collections of poetry (Mosaic Press 2013). It includes 57 poems and is grouped into two sections: Night Songs and This Blue Planet. Anna brings many qualities of classic Chinese poetry into fluent, distinctive English and reveals a truly trans-national voice and sensibility, nourished by landscapes and cultures across the globe. The merging of Oriental East and Occidental West is woven together on a delicate tapestry in this book. Anna has a receptive and meditative soul and what she has inhaled in the silence, she generously breaths back in life giving speech—this poetic missive is oxygen for the soul in an age when the contemplative approach to life is desperately needed as a corrective the addictive hyper-activism of many in the west in which many see but see little.

Anna Yin had four poems published by Eastlit in March, and another three poems published in May.

Tendai R. Mwanaka

Tendai, although writing primarily of Africa, was featured in Eastlit earlier this year with some poems touching on Asian issues and feeling. His third book Zimbabwe: The Blame Game has just been published by Langaa RPCIG of Cameroon. It is a collection of interlinked creative non-fiction pieces on Zimbabwe. It can be ordered from Langaa or the African Books Collective. A sample is available on Google. Congratulations Tendai. We wish you well.

Here is what the back cover Synopsis says:

Zimbabwe: The Blame Game is a cycle of creative non-fiction pieces, pulling the readers through the politics of modern day Zimbabwe.

Like in any game, there are players in this game, opposing each other. The game is told through the eyes of one of the players, thus it is subjective.

It centres on truthfully trying to find who to blame for Zimbabwe’s problems, and how to undo all these problems. Finding who to blame should be the beginning for the search of solutions. It encourages talking to each other, maybe about the wrongs we have done to each other, and genuinely trying to embrace and forgive each other.

In trying to undo the problems in Zimbabwe, it also offers insight or solutions on a larger platform – Africa: particularly South Africa; that it might learn from other African countries that have imploded before it, how to solve its own problems.

You can also read an interview and see what Tendai says about his book at Kubatana.

Tendai had three poems published by Eastlit in April and has another four poems in the current (June 2103) issue.

Other News

We would still like to add some more locals to the editorial board. If you are interested, please contact admin.

I hope to have an e-book downloadable issue of Eastlit ready for trial soon. The first one will be the inaugural issue. It is easier enough to convert to a PDF, but I am actually looking at creating an e-pub file so that it can be easier read on a tablet or smart phone.

I would also like to mention a French language online journal Vents Alizés run by Károly Sándor Pallai whose poetry was featured in the current (June) issue of Eastlit. They are currently accepting submissions on the theme of Time. They will consider pieces outside of the theme. So if you have work in French, or are a French reader, give it a look. They will also accept pieces in other languages.

Well that is enough for now. I am off to enjoy some unseasonal cooling breezes coming in from the Gulf.

Cheers.

Graham.

Getting Read

Posted on 7 June, 2013 by Graham

First

Before moving on to the topic of getting read, I have a few things to say. Sorry about any delays in replies recently. I have been away travelling. Also Bryn has decided to withdraw from Eastlit, so that he can go on an extended period of travel. He wishes all of you who had contact with him well. We at Eastlit wish Bryn all the best and thank him for his efforts. He will remain a lifelong honoury editor. Because of this, I will be making some changes to Eastlit by creating a larger team to read the submissions. If any of you are interested in this contact admin. There will also be some other changes, but more on these later.

Getting Read

Some writers ask me how they get more people to read their pieces. Well the first thing is that Eastlit has grown in readership every month. April was up 30% on March and May 30% on April. This should help in getting read more. Each month usually starts with the current issue being the best read thing by far. However, as the month moves on older issues start to receive reads. If your work is in older issues, it is still getting read although at a lower rate than when first published. As the months go by we are also going to use reminders of older pieces. We already did one of these with the post on poetry last month. We also integrate launches and news items with a variety of social media actions both official and unofficial to attract readers. In the near future we intend to intensify this and also aim to start press releases in the regions we cover. All of this should result in your work getting read more often.

Now that is what Eastlit does. However, it is also possible for contributors to help each other get more reads. If you have a piece published and share it on say your Facebook, then you attract some of your friends to read your piece. Some of these may even read others writers’ pieces especially if you suggest this or like another piece. It is possible to increase the reads by community action like this. Oh and please note that it does not make us at Eastlit any money! That has never been our aim as mentioned in previous posts and on our supporting local writers page.

If you support us and our aims it also helps if you give us a like or share on the Eastlit home page, submissions page or supporting local writers one linked to above. This also helps to get more readers who will look at your work.

June Issue

If you haven’t seen the June issue yet, just click on the picture to the left to go there. Clicking will take you to the unique cover based on a picture by leading Thai artist Vasan Sitthiket. The drawing is an illustration of the short story The Mansion by Andrew J. West.

Other pieces include Two Poems by rising Chinese poet and writer Xenia Taiga, Three Poems by Károly Sándor Pallai who usually writes in French but whom we are pleased to welcome to Eastlit and there also three more poems by Zara Adcock our youngest contributor. Completing the poetry in the June issue are contributions by Tendai R. Mwanaka and Michele Alice. A.T. Payne’s sees her first publication in Eastlit with the story Waiting for Jasmine and Chained by Nick M. Aarons also with his first piece in Eastlit completes the fiction line up. Both non-fiction pieces are also by writers new to Eastlit with Carol Colborn’s piece plus photographs on Reliving World War II in the Philippines and Lucy Howson’s Vietnam based Saturday Night Sat on the Street in District 1. Steve Rosse finishes the June issue up with the second in the series How not to Write.

Finally

Thanks to everyone who has sent in work or read an issue of Eastlit. Also thanks to all of you who have made suggestions. You know who you are. All the current round of changes should be complete within the next 6 months.

That is about all for now except for personal thanks from me to Bryn for everything. Hey Bryn, enjoy the world. You will always remain a good friend. And thanks for the nice words re Eastlit.

Cheers.

Graham.

Eastern Poetry

Posted on 18 May, 2013 by Graham

There has always been a strong tradition of Eastern poetry. This has crossed the regions from the north in Far Eastern Russia and Japan down to the southern reaches of South East Asia in Indonesia. Until sometime in the nineteenth century nearly all literature in the region was in fact poetry. The richness of eastern poetry and strength of its tradition can be seen across history. Tens of thousands of poems exist from the Chinese Tang dynasty of 600-900. Love letters in the form of poetry were written by both men and women in the Hei’an court of Imperial Japan of 800-1200. In South East Asia, moving forward slightly, we see ancient Javanese Sekar ageng and madya poetry. There is also the Khlong style of ancient Thailand. From these early starts a strong tradition in eastern poetry in local tongues both ancient and modern has built across the regions. In recent times we even see the addition of English to the poetry of the East. This is really where Eastlit comes in.

Eastern Poetry and Eastlit.

Since we launched Eastlit we have seen the tradition of poetry continue. Spread across each issue we have often found more poems than pieces of prose. There has been a strong cast of poetry from locals experimenting in English. This has been complimented by both locals and others continuing in the traditional genres and styles of Eastern poetry. Plus we have seen the modern addition of poetry covering living away from the East.

In issue one we saw the Mahanaya Buddhist inspired poetry of Arkava Das. As the months have ticked by we have seen the modern poems of third culture by Valerie Wong. Student Zach Wilson tried a more traditional Western Dao. Colin Campbell contributed Haiku from Sarawak as well as traditional Malaysian pantoums. Anna Yin has more recently added in her own unique style with poems touching on the old, traditional and modern. She features in both the March and May issues of Eastlit. Rose Lu has helped in continuing the strong showing that we have seen by Chinese women writing poetry in English.

At Eastlit we are proud to be able to offer a medium to showcase this continuing tradition of Eastern Poetry. We are happy to be part of its ongoing development as East meets West and the combination creates something new.

Thank you to all the poets engaged in the poetry of the East in all its current meanings. We will continue to work with you to bring what you create to our readers.

Cheers

Graham

Past and Future

Posted on 6 May, 2013 by Graham

It is time to think of the future now that Eastlit has made it past six months and has published six online issues. Over this period we have also seen constant growth in readership. Just from March to April saw a 50% increase. Bryn and I have also managed to increase administrative efficiency to the point where we are now confident that we can start thinking about moving to the next stage in Eastlit’s development. We would also like to thank all of you who have contributed work, read the journal and given us feedback over the first six months. We would not be where we are without you.

The Future

The first thing to say about the future is that we do not plan on changing what we offer now. However, there are a number of things we are looking at adding:

Issues of Eastlit that can be downloaded. This means you would not need to be online to read Eastlit. You could also read it on reading devices such as Kindles. It may also make things easier on the eye.
Photograph and visual art section. While concentrating on English literature in East and South East Asia, in response to some requests, we are thinking of taking submissions of photographs or other works of visual art. We believe this would add a nice juxtaposition to the text, and also create more of a magazine feel.
Non-native writers. We plan on actively promoting Eastlit and its free editorial services for non-native writers in the future. We are also thinking of offering some form of online creative writing courses aimed at non-native writers. This is all part of our longer term aim of supporting local writers. We would dearly love to take this all to some of the poorer countries of the region, but that is probably for a later stage. Our longer term aim is to increase the amount of local non-native pieces without cutting the amount of quality native written pieces we publish. Eastlit would just become a larger publication.
Revisiting older issues/pieces. We do plan on highlighting or reissuing pieces of work that can be buried in older issues as time goes by. One of the things I personally heard from writers when first mulling the idea of Eastlit was that they had pieces published years ago that they felt were now just lost in either a dead journal or a years old unviewed issue. We at Eastlit want to try and ensure that this will not happen to work published on Eastlit.
Archive. Any issue older than 3 months is now listed on the currently minimalist Archive page. For now just click the picture on this page to enter the issue. I will probably be redesigning the archive page in the next few months. Hey, any ideas on what it should or should not have would be great!

These are our plans, but before moving ahead with them, we would as always appreciate any thoughts, comments or criticism. At Eastlit we do want to remain genuinely responsive to our contributors and readers and be as transparent as we can. I am letting you know about this now before we move ahead, so we can factor in any feedback we get. As the plans are formulated I will give updated reports here.

These plans together coupled with increased viewing does mean extra cost for us, and that brings me to the next topic.

Fund Raising

Firstly, this is not a sudden request for donations or largesse, but a request for any advice or ideas on how funds could be raised to cover increased costs. Bryn and I are not looking at being paid or even recouping what we have already spent on setting up Eastlit. However, to move ahead on the new projects, we are looking at ways we could cover some or even all of the cost of a project. Our personal funds are not unlimited! Neither of us are businessmen or have any experience or knowledge of raising funds. If anyone reading this does, some advice would be welcome. You can contact us here.

Previously we mentioned advertising. However, this was not popular as it was seen as anything from selling out to ruining the look. So I guess that option is ruled out. We will also not indulge in anything that risks the independence of Eastlit, its aims or its editorial policy. Apart from that we are open to suggestions, but please bear in mind neither of us can cook cakes that anyone will buy.

It would also be nice if one day we could offer some remuneration for contributions, or maybe more realistically competition prizes.

May Issue

The May issue has already been read by a very large number of people. I did hear a report or two of the server being down on occasion. If you notice this, could you please let me know as we do have a plan to upgrade hosting, but with cost a consideration it is not yet urgent although could become so!

Anyway the May issue with the last part of the Iron Butterfly and the first of the How Not to Write series as well as writers new and previous to Eastlit is out and receiving good feedback. If you haven’t seen it yet, just click on the picture to the left. It has more content than the last few issues. The cover picture is explained inside.

Translations

Don’t forget you can now also submit translations into English of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. In fact we positively welcome this. Please read our submissions page first. Then submit through the submissions e-mail.

Other News

There is not much else to say. However, I would like to thank all those who have contributed to the first six issues. I have really enjoyed everything I have read even in some cases if it hasn’t been published. Remember that you can submit more any time, and we will just slot it in for consideration for one of the next few issues.

If you like Eastlit and our aims, please support us by spreading the word or like or share this or another page.

Oh, remember you can also get all this news from our newsletter. Sign up now to have the news sent to your e-mail if you would like that.

Cheers.

Graham.

April News

Posted on 15 April, 2013 by Graham

Well it is Happy Thai New Year (Songkhran) to everyone who celebrates it at the start of this news post. It is very hot in Thailand and the five days of water throwing where I live is in full flow. People really seem to be enjoying themselves this year, which is a great thing.

Still, sitting in the garden at 9:45 I had better turn my mind to things Eastlit and give an update of what is going on before the temperature rises too high and the partying begins.

May Issue

The May issue of Eastlit will be bigger than the April issue. The plan is to have it out on May 1 for International Labour Day. It will include fiction, poetry, a novel extract and non-fiction and the first of a series on how not to write!

How Not to Write

Starting in the May issue we will be running a series titled How Not to Write by Steve Rosse. Steve Rosse is a former columnist for The Nation newspaper in Bangkok. He has written a number of books and is an accomplished editor with an eye for good and bad writing! He has had a number of pieces published in Eastlit since its launch. We hope that writers both new and experienced will find his advice and tips useful.

April Issue

The April issue of Eastlit was a small one. However, it has attracted a lot of interest. If you have not seen it yet, why not take a look at our unique cover. If you prefer, you can go straight to the table of contents. Eastlit’s April issue has a mix of poetry, fiction and non-fiction. The contributors come from across the region and outside. They include expatriates as well as local writers, and we feature both writers new to Eastlit and a couple of old hands. The cover picture is provided by Xenia Taiga this month. Thanks to all those who contributed ad to those who have read it.

Eastlit and Readers

Over the course of this year to date, there has been a steady increase in the number of readers visiting the site. We would like to thank our readers for their support of the site and its contributors. Without you Eastlit would not be here. We also invite comments or suggestions through the usual contact.

Previously Published Authors

Please remember that you can submit more work at any time. In fact we love to see more from authors we have already published. The only limitation is that in general we do not publish authors in consecutive months. We also welcome submission or work from authors previously rejected. Every piece will be judged on its merits.

Non-Native Writers

At Eastlit we are happy at the number of pieces of work we have received from writers whose native language is not English. Thank you. We hope these submissions continue to increase. Don’t forget that we offer free advice and editing on pieces to non-native writers.

The Butterfly’s Body

The May issue of Eastlit will see the publication of Life Cycle, which is the final chapter of The Iron Butterfly by Richard Lutman. The first two chapters are The Butterfly’s Body and The Colors of the Wings. These were published in the January and March issues of Eastlit respectively.

Translations

You can now also submit translations into English of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. In fact we positively welcome this if anyone has work. Please read our submissions page first. Then submit through the submissions e-mail.

Other News

I have been busy looking for and fixing broken links in Eastlit. Those previously not working have I hope been fixed. However, if you find any broken links please report them to Eastlit admin or through our contact form.

Please also remember you can get all the latest or follow us on the Eastlit Facebook page.

Not much else to say except:

Sawadee Pee Mai.

Cheers.

Graham.

News

Posted on 23 March, 2013 by Graham

There are a number of news items as we approach the end of March. I have set them out under headings so you can find what is relevant to you.

News

The April issue will be out on April 1, 2013. It will be an issue of eight or nine pieces including fiction, poetry and a couple of non-fiction pieces. This is continuing in line with our smaller issues policy from the start of this year.

Writers will be hearing in the next few days if their work is in or out.

Writing Process and Editing

We hope to be making an announcement on something new to help new and aspiring writers very soon. As soon as we have things confirmed, we will make it public. This fits with our aim of trying to help new writers and non-native writers. We remain fully committed to encouraging and supporting non-native writers.

Writers’ Group

The International Writers Group, which will be independent of Eastlit, has been set up. It is on Facebook as a Facebook page. Google stopped supporting Google Communities. Please take a look if interested. It is open to anyone writing in English. It is also open to those interested in writing and readers. Using Facebook means that writers can take advantage of easy ways to share, edit, co-write or seek opinions. This can also be done in a private way with only chosen people or publicly. That is up to the writer. Using Facebook does though mean you will need a Facebook account. But who doesn’t have one these days!

Right now the group is very new and small. We are actively seeking new members, so if you have friends who may be interested please let them know. The aim is to make this a group for the members and not have it dominated by a few.

Most of all we would love to hear your ideas. You can contact us in the community, through the usual channels here or via our g mail account.

Future Eastlit Issues

We are now taking submissions for our May and June issues. We are accepting fiction, poetry, non-fiction, relevant essays, novel extracts and photographs. If you have not submitted before, please take a look at our submission guidelines before sending work in.

We actively encourage non-native writers to send work in. See our commitment to supporting new writers.

Finally

If you do support our aims or even just enjoy the work, please do like or share us from the links at the bottom.

Cheers.

Graham.

Writer’s Group

Posted on 15 March, 2013 by Graham

A bit of a conversation has started on the Google+ Eastlit account. This has been about the writers’ group we have mentioned a few times. The aim of this group is not to be an Eastlit writer’s group, but an independent online international group based on democratic principles rather than having a leader. The writers’ group would also be based on members being as much or little involved as they want, and bringing to the group what they wanted.

The group would be there for writers and others to support each other, offer advice on work, read and maybe edit. However, away from that it could also be a place to discuss literature, books, poems and even become a place for like minded people to discuss what they wanted. From my perspective, I would also love it to be a place that warmly welcomes non-native writers, and provides the support and assistance to help them write or say what they want.

At the moment it is early days, but there is discussion of what platform to use. At the moment using Google+ seems favourite. This is because Google documents is an excellent platform for sharing and commenting. The only downside, is that members need a g-mail account. Other possible options are a WordPress.com or similar blog platform. Yahoo and Facebook seem to not be popular as they offer less.

I guess at this stage, though, it would be great to hear from you our readers and writers. I think it should be open to both readers and writers. Are you interested? If so, please let us know. What would you like to see in a group? What would you like to bring to bring to a group if anything?

Please contact us if interested, so we can get an idea of initial numbers. You can also find us on Facebook or Google+ (no more!) and leave messages on these. And if you have any questions, please ask!

Cheers.

Graham.

March

Posted on 7 March, 2013 by Graham

Well as the temperature rises here in Thailand, the flow of submissions seem to be increasing. It is great to get so much original work to read and to be able to publish what we can. It is also humbling that not only do we see so much submitted but also the number of readers from around the world is on the increase. It sometimes surprises me the places that we get interest from.

The March issue also seems to have gone down well, so thanks to all of the contributors to that. We really appreciate your work and support of Eastlit. It is also wonderful to see an increase in submissions from locals.

Photographs

I know I keep mentioning this, but photos for the cover are the one area we are short of supply. Please if anyone can help out, send them in. If you have a friend who can, please ask them. You do retain full rights as with your stories, You will also be credited and given an entry in our contributors section.

Submissions

We are now taking submissions for our April, May and June issues. So send them in. We usually get back to you very quickly to acknowledge receipt. We then contact you in the week before our issue goes out to let you know if you are in or out. Please remember to read our submission guidelines before sending things in.

Archives and Older Issues

Now we have published four issues, we are creating an archive of older issues. Sometimes when pieces go into an archive, they get “lost” over time. We will try to mention and highlight our older published pieces form time to time in this latest section and other releases.

Editing

Let us know if you would like your work looked at and suggestions for edits made. We cannot offer an exhaustive service for this, but want to increase what we do offer. We do expect submissions to be at least close to finished pieces.

Other March News

There is little news from us this March. However, it would be nice to hear from you of anything you would like to see in Eastlit. What do you think of the colour and slight tagline change? What is your favourite piece of poetry or prose? Do you like the longer pieces? All this helps us to know how to best balance things and keep Eastlit interesting for you the reader. You can contact us by e-mail here or on our contact form.

Oh, remember you can also get all this news from our newsletter. Sign up now to have the news sent to you.

Cheers

Graham

News

Posted on 25 February, 2013 by Graham

News

The March issue will be out on March 1st. This one includes a variety of non-fiction. There are also the usual poetry and fiction. Plus in the March issue the second chapter of the Iron Butterfly will be run. The first chapter was in the January Eastlit.

Writers should hear about now whether we will be including their work. And thank you to all those who did submit what was a very varied selection this time.

Nice

It is nice to see more work coming in from Filipino writers. We have always wanted to have a strong representation from local as well as expat writers. Let’s hope this trend continues to some other countries. Please remember that are here to help non-native writers too. If you need some advice or editing help, please contact us.

New

Eastlit is looking at copy-editing what it publishes now to better help our writers.

We have also made a colour change to the background and a few words in the Eastlit tag-line. Please let us know if you have any comments on this either positive or negative!

Now we are moving into our fourth issue, we have made an archive section. Issues older than the current three will be moved to here. The December issue is the first moved.

Future Eastlit Issues.

We are still sticking with smaller issues for now. However, we hope within this to continue to bring variety. The coming issue will see more non-fiction.

We are taking submissions for our April and May issues now. Please feel free to send your work in.

Other News

We could still do with pictures for future issues if anyone is interested. Just contact us or send them in. Remember you retain copyright.

And that must be it for now, but

Finally, I’d like to thank Bryn for the extra work he has put in this month.

And on that note it is…

Cheers

Graham

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First

Getting Read

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Finally

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Eastern Poetry and Eastlit.

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The Future

Fund Raising

May Issue

Translations

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May Issue

How Not to Write

April Issue

Eastlit and Readers

Previously Published Authors

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The Butterfly’s Body

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Future Eastlit Issues

Finally

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