Well after eight months of a year out of work concentrating on this project, it is finally here. The first issue is out. A great feeling it is. Obviously this is the first issue and we are learning. And we would like to encourage feedback on any aspect of Eastlit. Please send your comments. You can contact us through the contact page or our contact e-mail. These comments will be private. We do value feedback.

Some may ask why we started Eastlit. Well we want to offer more opportunity to those writing from within and connected to the huge region. Right now it seems the number of journals and sites for East and South East Asia are limited. These are also regions where the importance of English is rising. With it we expect local English literature to flourish. We hope in our own way that we can offer another avenue for writers to exhibit their work and connect with readers. We especially hope to offer opportunity to new and second language writers. In our second issue it looks like we will have more work from these groups. We also will definitely have more women writers. That is all great news. Of course we also welcome work by experienced writers. We hope to create a nicely balanced blend over time. We aim to stick to monthly issues.

I would like to say thanks to all those who sent in work. I hope that the pieces we have selected give a varied and interesting read. And from me it is a special thank you to all those contributors appearing in our first issue. From launching the site on October 26 until the deadline for first issue was short. It has been a lot of work putting everything together. Having so much work submitted was great to see. It is also increasing as we head to the January issue.

In Eastlit December issue we have experienced and published poets and writers. We are also introducing some new ones too. To contact a writer, contact us through the contact form. We will forward it to the writer.

Some of the pieces probably deserve a few comments. La Perla by MFL Bulandus was inspired by a real fire in Manila. The characters though are not real. Sea Stories, another piece set in the Philippines, by Donald Vogel is our longest piece at about 8500 words. We have work from two Indian writers: Arkava Das and Aswin Mudigonda. Their work touching on Mahanaya and Hanuman resonate nicely with local culture. Two short stories are republished work. These are by Suvi Mahonen and Chris Luppi. The work submitted has been published with content as received in this issue.

There is also a thank you to those we did not choose to feature this time. Good luck with your future writing, and please submit again. What goes in and what does not is subjective. However, sometimes we have to reject because of balance too, or a piece not really fitting with our aim. And hey there are other journals that may have a very different take on your work. Keep at it. Do not stop.

But I have said enough. You are not here to read my comments. The contributors can say it better in their work. Please move on from my little piece. I hope you enjoy some of what you read. We have.

Cheers.

Graham