BW Issue 18
THE BW INTERVIEW: J M LEE
“I want a fiction that reveals the truth of history, rather than the fragments of it. I dream about a fiction that can highlight the truth. Truth always has two contradictory sides: light and darkness. Men bear their own light and darkness too: good and evil. No one can avoid them.”
J M Lee is a bestselling Korean author who has written eight novels which have been made into movies, TV dramas, a musical and a play. In 2015, his novel The Investigation was longlisted for the prestigious Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. In an interview with BW, Lee shares his delightful musings about the evils of human nature, freedom, imprisonment and hope.
THE BW INTERVIEW: Emmanuel Moon Chil Park
“…No matter how much you prepare for life’s obstacles, something is bound to go wrong. With increasing global mobility, it will be more and more difficult to raise children in a mono-cultural environment; I realize that, if I have children of my own, they will, like me, most likely have to face the troubles of negotiating cultural differences. What I can say, for now, is that I intend to do my best in understanding what my child is going through and show unconditional support.”
Read the exclusive interview with multiple award-winning filmmaker Emmanuel Moon Chil Park.
We interview successful people in the publishing industry to help YOU in your journey as a Banana Writer
The Literary Agent
The Bookseller
The Editor
The Publicist
LATEST BW ASIAN WRITERS TO GET UNPEELED
Ribcages enter the hollow en masse.
Candlelight on wrinkled moles.
The troubles crackling
Through the congregation,
Piercing the leather of holy books,
Letters scrubbed raw from the inside;
An Indonesian writer, artist and advocate shares her thoughts in her stunning, thought-provoking poems.
BW Poetry: Empathy for Cathedrals & Other Musings
"...Someone asserted that the American public does not want to read books that primarily take place in foreign countries. Someone else said she had recently published a novel about adoption and it didn’t sell well, so she’d pass on mine…Then there was the editor who said she much preferred a novel she had published about the redemptive act of adopting Chinese babies.”
An American writer shares about her personal struggles of being an Asian novelist in a white washed publishing world.
Thoughts from a Banana Writer: White Out
“His eyes were blood shot watching me at the verge of tearing up. I grabbed those postcards as David insisted feeding them to the paper shredder. “Don’t you know they’re like my family? They’re my saving grace when you were away.” Yes, there was a new discovery of subtle intimacy in these 17cm x 12cm, postmarked and slightly crippled by-the-edge…He then called me the sickest joke of this century.”
Read a compelling story about reckless love and heartache.
BW Short Story: Ingénue
BW Poetry: On That Day
I wanted to be me
Read a short poem by a young British born Chinese writer finding meaning in a damaged world.
BW Script: Old Mr Webster
“Old Mr. Webster could never define what’s being said between your heart and mine.” 4th Month, Charice – “When You Say Nothing at All”
A playwright shares with our readers a scene from her work in progress play about language barriers in relationships.
BW Short Story: Clementine
“Aponito traveled easily, basking in the boundaries of their known world. The forests, the calls of the birds, and the dirt paths-- he knew them all. It was not until he reached the border of the Giantess that he knew that his real adventure was beginning…”
Read a heartfelt, mystical adventure story based on Filipino folklore.