Tag Archives: poetry

Eastlit September

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Well sorry, I haven’t done one of these pieces for a while. It has been a very busy time for me away from Eastlit. I will however try to get one or two of these pieces out every month.

Eastlit September Issue

Eastlit September: Journal Cover Eastlit September 2013. Well the Eastlit September issue is out and it is nice to be getting posiitve feedback. Thanks from me and thanks from the writers too.

The Eastlit September issue contains a mix of poetry, short stories and non-fiction. It also includes another extract from a novel. Plus we have the regular piece form Steve Rosse in the How Not to Write series.

We continue to try and introduce a few new writers or poets every issue.

I would also like to thank all the editorial board members for their help. You know who you are. Thanks from me to members old and new. Thanks also to those who have volunteered to join he board in the future and also hose who have sent in guest editorials for consideration. It all helps.

Donations

As I said on the front page, now is a time of some expense for Eastlit. If you are able to help with a dollar, pound, yen or two or know someone who is, it will certainly be appreciated. And if you can’t hey just keep reading or sending the work in, or give us a like, share or spread the word. It all helps and we do value it all. In fact from me it is thanks to you all who have sent so much in or spent so much time reading Eastlit. It will soon be a year and it is humbling to see quite how many people have followed the development of this little journal.

Oh for donations the button can be found on the right of some pages or the front page. On some mobile devices it may appear at the bottom of the page. And here it is below:




 

Eastlit Courses

Eastlit is now offering the following online courses:

  • Activaing Creativity
  • Creative Writing

If you would like more information, please contact us.

Eastlit September – Other Things

We are taking submissions for the next 6 issues right now, so don’t be shy. Send them in.

The Android app is going through gradual development. If we can raise the money, we will also publish an app for iPhones. It is already made!

OK enough from me.

Cheers

Graham

 

Eastlit Live

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There are a couple of exciting new developments to mention today: The first Eastlit app for tablets and smart phones, and Eastlit Live.

Bracelets not War: Eastlit Live. Photograph by Graham LawrenceEastlit Live

Eastlit Live is an attempt to move beyond just written words. Now we are in the 21st century. That means multimedia and mobility. In an attempt to keep up with the world, we are introducing a new concept. We call this Eastlit Live. At Eastlit we want to introduce a multimedia approach to literature.

This approach though melds the new and traditional. We all know of poetry readings and storytelling. Both have a long history. Or maybe it should be something more modern limited only by the imagination of the creator.

Well now we have set up an Eastlit You Tube channel called Eastlitlive so that you can showcase your poetry reading, readings of your short stories, interviews or other artistic offerings. We want this to be a service for our contributors. And we see it as a way you can promote yourself. We accept anything that is within the normal guidelines. This means connected to or from East and Southeast Asia and not of an adult nature. On Eastlit Live channel we will host anything submitted that meets our guidelines.This is slightly different from the Eastlit Journal where we scrutinize everything. However, what we highlight in the actual journal will still go through this process. And we will be highlighting the best of what we receive every month.

We plan on launching this new initiative as soon as we can. That relies on you, though. So get your videos in now! Oh if you have questions, please feel free to ask through our contact form or by e-mail contact. I will let you know more as this develops. As there is nothing up yet, just subscribe to the channel if interested. We hope it will not be long before we have something for you.

How do you send them? Well just send me a link to a Dropbox file, Google Drive file or any other way you can think of. You can submit these links or files through the normal submission e-mail, or through our g-mail. Submissions will be put up as soon as possible on You Tube. Plus, every monthly issue of Eastlit will feature a page highlighting and embedding what our editors liked most.

Android App

I have been talking about this since the launch of Eastlit. And the app is another aspect of the Eastlit Live concept. Well, now it is in the Google Playstore. You can find it via the link in the heading. You can also go the Play Store and search Eastlit. It would be great if all of you Android users could give it a go and send me some feedback to the normal e-mails etc. The version out is a simple one, but with 3000+ android phones it has to be I guess. At the moment you can access the whole site. I am not sure if that is the way to go on a mobile though. However, I thought it better to await feedback. There are also possibilities of including extra more social aspects. In the end I decided it was better to await feedback rather than decide myself.

This version does have a small mobile adverts panel. It costs to add these developments to Eastlit, so I have little choice but to seek some ways of recouping a little of that cost. If there is interest in iPhone or Windows Phone apps, let me know. These can be created too. Development though for both is more expensive.

Anyway, I would appreciate any feedback on:

  • What you would like to see included.
  • What pages you would like to see removed.
  • Comments on design, aesthetics etc

Other News:

Anna Yin has sent a copy of her recent book Inhaling the Silence to be reviewed. Hopefully, that review will be in the September issue of Eastlit. Information on Anna’s book can be found at the site of Mosaic who published it.

Oh and of course don’t forget the next issue of Eastlit will be out on August 1, 2013.

Cheers.

Graham.

Top Reads

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I have not done a top reads or statistics posts before. To be honest I do not look at the statistics that much. However, for the few that do ask, I have listed the top five for the last week and month below. I have also included the ten top reads for all time to date. It is nice to see the all time list being a mix of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Looking at it now, it is nice to also see a number of local writers making the all time top ten.

This only looks at contributors work and not at site pages, news items, editorials, covers etc. I haven’t put direct links to each story, but I have listed each issue, so you can find them there. Each monthly issue is in the archive or the links at he top of the page. Maybe you will find a lesser read piece that you like too. Anyway here are the top reads:

Top Five Last Seven Days:

  1. Common Filipino Funeral Superstitions Rebutted by Reynold P. Macaranas (March).
  2. The Mansion by Andrew J. West (June).
  3. The Battle of Mianzi by Nichole Reber (May).
  4. Blame it on the Farmer by Stefanie Field (May).
  5. Box by Kalpana Negi (January).

Top Five Last 30 Days:

  1. The Mansion by Andrew J. West (June).
  2. Reliving World War II in the Philippines by Carol Colborne (June).
  3. Three Poems by Zara Adcock (June).
  4. Three Poems by Károly Sándor Pallai (June).
  5. Common Filipino Funeral Superstitions Rebutted by Reynold P. Macaranas (March).

Top Ten All Time:

  1. Going Back to Emerald Hill by Chew Yei Wei (April).
  2. La Perla by MFL Bulandus (December).
  3. Going Home by Steve Rosse (February).
  4. The Mansion by Andrew J. West (June).
  5. Common Filipino Funeral Superstitions Rebutted by Reynold P. Macaranas (March).
  6. Monkey Business by Ashwin Mudigonda (December).
  7. The Battle of Mianzi by Nichole Reber (May).
  8. At the Lake by Tom Sheehan (May).
  9. Four Poems by Anna Yin (March).
  10. Five Poems by Rose Lu (April).

Other News:

The July issue will be out on June 30, or that is the plan!

Cheers.

Graham

Published Writers

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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.

Eastern Poetry

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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

News

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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

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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

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The complete list of contents for the Eastlit March Issue is below. Please click on a link to go to the page. Eastlit Cover. The picture is Lifetime by Sinlaratn Soontornviset. The cover design is by Graham Lawrence. Editorial by Bryn Tennant. Mirage by Xenia Taiga Four Poems by Anna Yin. The poems are: My Father's Family Tree, The Bodhi Tree, Raspberries and Root Carving. South East Asia: Patterns and Paradoxes by Quimar Yazima The Colors of the Wings by Richard Lutman. This is the second chapter of the novella The Iron Butterfly. The first chapter was published in Eastlit's January issue. Four Poems by Afzal Moolla. The poems are: Port of Call, The Whispering Leaf, Warning: Soppy Love Scribble! and The Swaying of the Grass. The Gibbon Rehabilitation Project by James Austin Farrell. Common Filipino Funeral Superstitions Rebutted by Reynold P. Macaranas Oil by Donald R. Vogel. An extract from a novel tentatively titled Father John. Five Poems by Dawnell Harrison. The poems are: Loneliness, The Sunrise Burned, The Mirage, Icy Waves and The Great Taproot. Viva La Difference by Alex Pithie The Pearl Necklace by Tom Sheehan Contributors. An alphabetical list of all the contributors to the March issue of Eastlit complete with biographies of all the writers and poets. Note on Work. Please note that we publish work as received. We do not edit work for minor errors. We regard these as decisions made by the author. The one exception is that we may work with second language writers to help them say what they want to say. Please note all work whether writing or pictures remains the copyrighted work of its authors. Subscribe to our newsletter for all the latest on upcoming issues, competitions, incentives, contributors and news in general.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

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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

 

February

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The complete list of contents for the Eastlit February Issue is below. Please click on a link to go to the page. Eastlit Cover. Picture by Graham Lawrence. Design by Graham Lawrence. The cover shows buildings from Vientiene and provides the backdrop for the February 2013 issue of Eastlit. Editorial by Graham with a poem by Afzal Moolla. Hitoshi and the Orange Peel Mystery by Iain Maloney: This is an an extract from the novel Dog Mountain. Santubong Haiku by Colin W. Campbell. Going Home by Steve Rosse. Five Poems by Kislay Chuahan. The poems are: Afternoon Desert, An Old Age, Seashore Witness, Face of the Nature and Heart of Wood. Gip by Julien Headley. Two Poems by Terry Scott Niebeling. The poems are:Tender Thought and We See but We Don't (Easter Love). Flashing Police Lights Missing by Kersie Khambutta. Three Poems by Linda Woolven. The poems are: November Storm, Night Time Lovers and Laundry Day. Finding a Vein by Steve Tait. Contributors. An alphabetical list of all the contributors to the February issue of Eastlit complete with biographies of all the writers and poets. Note on Work. Please note that we publish work as received. We do not edit work for minor errors. We regard these as decisions made by the author. The one exception is that we may work with second language writers to help them say what they want to say. Subscribe to our newsletter for all the latest on upcoming issues, competitions, incentives, contributors and news in general.

In spite of being a smaller issue, the Eastlit February issue is getting a lot of views. The number of readers is increasing every month right now. Thank you to our readers. Thank you also to the contributors for the poetry and prose that is attracting people.

After three issues, it feels like things are settling down a little. The crazy rushed feeling of November through January has now gone. It is now a time when we can consider new developments. While we do this, we will stick to the current format. Hopefully we can keep a nice mix of poetry and prose and writers new and experienced while adding something new as we go.

March and April Issues.

These will continue in the slimmer format for now. We are taking submissions for both of these issues now, so send them in! Please read the submission guidelines before submitting. We encourage non-native writers to submit work and will give assistance where needed.

Photographs

If you have photos, pictures or artwork from or connected to the region, we are very interested in using it on our front covers. As usual you retain all rights, and just grant us a license to publish it by submitting to us. We would also consider publishing artwork or pictures linked to a story if authors want this.

Previously Published Writers

If you had work published by Eastlit in the December or January issue, you are clear to submit more for the March issue. Writers and poets published in the February issue can submit work for the April issue. You can send it in at any time as we mark it for the next issue you can appear in, so don’t delay!

Chinese New Year

We at Eastlit would like to wish everyone who celebrates it, a Great Chinese New Year, and a wonderful year of the snake.

Other February 2013 News

We are still working on getting more involvement from the few places that are yet to feature in Eastlit. Indonesia remains top of that list, and we may have a development for one of the next issues. Fingers crossed.

There are a few things we at Eastlit will now put more energy into. The first is the writers’ group. The others are the Eastlit app and the possible greater involvement of some of our more regular contributors. More news on these as they arise. If anyone wants to volunteer for anything from writers’ groups to editing assistance, let us know.

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

Finally

I would like to say a personal thank you to all of you who have had contact. After three or four months and looking back, it has been a great experience from my perpsective.

Cheers.

Graham.