This month’s show is about East and Southeast Asian identity in Britain. We spoke to journalist Helena Lee about East Side Voices, the anthology of writing she edited that celebrates the diversity of these voices in the UK. We also spoke to poet and writer Will Harris about the poem he contributed and some of the other pieces from the collection, which features writers including Mary Jean Chan, Sharlene Teo, Rowan Hisayo Buchanan and Catherine Cho. These essays and poems cover a range of experiences and settings, from the set of Harry Potter to the NHS frontlines, and seek to combat the absence of representation in British culture in which East and Southeast Asian lives are often, to use Salman Rushdie’s words, “visible but unseen”. Listen in for readings, music, plus all the usual recommendations.
Recommendations:
Octavia: Pisti, 80 rue de Belleville by Estelle Hoy
Helena: Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda
Will: Ultimatum Orangutan by Khairani Barokka
Carrie: Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman
Find a list of all recommended books at: https://uk.bookshop.org/lists/feb-2022-east-side-voices-with-helena-lee-and-will-harris
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This episode is sponsored by Picador: https://www.panmacmillan.com/picador
