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.