East Side Voices: Essays celebrating East and Southeast Asian identity in Britain

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I didn’t have many ESEA friends growing up – a couple here and there, but I didn’t see that many people who looked like me until I got to high school. I didn’t have a typical Vietnamese upbringing (whatever that means) – we had no family friends or relatives close by who were also Vietnamese, and so many of the cultural references and in-jokes that I have seen bandied about in Vietnamese American corners of the Internet go over my head. Like many, I have often felt fraudulent in my claim to ESEA heritage. Featuring essays and poetry from new writers, celebrities and authors ranging from the likes of Gemma Chan, Katie Leung, Sharlene Teo and Zing Tsjeng, this collection explores the wide spectrum of experiences from the East and South-East Asian community.

East Side Voices by Helena Lee | Hachette UK East Side Voices by Helena Lee | Hachette UK

Showcasing original essays and poetry from well-known celebrities, prize-winning literary stars and exciting new writers, East Side Voices takes us many places: from the frontlines of the NHS in the midst of the Covid pandemic, to the set of a Harry Potter film, from a bustling London restaurant to a spirit festival in Myanmar. In the process we navigate the legacies of family history, racial identity, assimilation and difference. All the anthology contributors are incredibly successful: society’s winners, global third-culture kids. As Chinese-Malaysian novelist Tash Aw writes poetically“: “We revel in the three-dimensional nature of our hybrid cultures and languages, rejoicing in the fact that we have an instinctive understanding of how the south-east Asian archipelago weaves its cultural connections.” Yet many of the testimonials demonstrate that no amount of privilege protects you from the racism of others.I learned a lot by reading it, there are things that I didn't know completely. There are things that apply to all women unfortunately. This book was a great insight into the lives of individuals in the East and Southeast Asian (ESEA) community living in the UK, and some of the difficulties they have faced as a result of being from this community. Most poignant to me were the stories of the desire to assimilate and be accepted, and the associated hardships. As someone from the ESEA community who lives in England, I truly resonated with many of these accounts. I wish that I had read this book much earlier in life. East Side Voices is a thoughtful, painful reminder of the grand narratives that get buried under belittling stereotypes, of how progress can also regress and how self-actualisation, self-discovery and personal excellence still grate against the perceptions of strangers. We want to change that for future generations by creating a joyful, thought-provoking celebration of ESEA culture that’s open to all people,” she continued. “We couldn’t have a better partner than Foyles, as they are passionate, long-standing advocates for ESEA literature and are perfectly located, close to the heart of things in Chinatown.” I appreciate that this essay collection, not only is wide ranging in their topics and themes but also very much intersectional. My favorite essays are probably by June Bellebono who talked about the trans community in Myanmar; Anna Sulan who wrote about her migration story and her identity of having a white mother and an Iban father; and Helena Lee who talked about her guilt and experiences of wanting to belong that when she was little she distanced herself from her heritage, dismissing her parents' experiences of being immigrants and how she finally came to understand it as she grew older (there was a paragraph where she talked about how she realized how different herself is from her friends by all the enid blyton's books she has read and it reminded me of my sixth grade self). I also really liked the fact that these essays were written by various figures, ranging from journalists, actors, poets, and even chefs.

besea.n reads… East Side Voices — besea.n

Edited by Helena Lee (Acting Deputy Editor at Harper's Bazaar and East Side Voices founder) EAST SIDE VOICES invites us to explore a dazzling spectrum of experience from the East and Southeast Asian diaspora living in Britain today. Showcasing original essays and poetry from celebrities, prize-winning literary stars and exciting new writers, EAST SIDE VOICES takes us many places: from the frontlines of the NHS in the midst of the Covid pandemic, to the set of a Harry Potter film, from a bustling London restaurant to a spirit festival in Myanmar. In the process we navigate the legacies of family history, racial identity, assimilation and difference. In the aftermath of the second world war, Britain forcibly deported hundreds of Chinese seamen who had served in the merchant navy, deeming them an “undesirable element” of British society. These men had helped keep the UK fed and fuelled on highly dangerous crossings of the Atlantic (approximately 3,500 vessels of the merchant navy were sunk by German U-boats, with the loss of 72,000 lives). Je suis vraiment contente de l'avoir vu "parce qu'une actrice que j'aime en parlait" et qu'au final, c'était instructif et très important.Contributors including Harry Potter actress Katie Leung and Andrew Wong, the chef-founder of the two Michelin-starred restaurant in Pimlico, share their thoughts on the legacies of family history, racial identity, assimilation and difference. E ast Side Voices boasts contributions from a dazzling range of east Asian and south-east Asian public figures, from Eternals actor Gemma Chan to model Naomi Shimada. It grew out of a salon convened by the book’s editor – and acting deputy editor of Harper’s Bazaar – Helena Lee in February 2020, just before the pandemic that Donald Trump branded the “China virus” and “Kung flu”, fuelling a wave of racist violence against east and south-east Asian people.

East Side Voices, edited by Helena Lee review – reflections East Side Voices, edited by Helena Lee review – reflections

Many of the essays discuss the unseen but inherent racism toward the Asian community in art, and media…which I rarely see discussed but is important that it is. The essays were compiled recently and there were frequent references to covid and the impact that prejudicial misinformation has had on Asian lives. East Side Voices is a collection of essays written by people with East and South East Asian identity that lives in Britain. The themes and topics explored in this were very wide, which i appreciate. Every single essay is different from one another as they are all written by different people so it was refreshing to hear about each of their experiences but at the same time, the heart of the essays are the same which is about their journey of assimilating and accepting their identity and their experiences being Asian in Britain. The group was founded in 2022 by publicity director Maria Garbutt-Lucero, who works at Hodder & Stoughton, and commissioning editor Joanna Lee, who works at independent publisher Atlantic Books. Its aim is to amplify the voices of east and south-east Asian writers and promote ESEA talent working across the UK publishing industry.Dazzling . . . East Side Voices is a thoughtful, painful reminder of the grand narratives that get buried under belittling stereotypes’ Bidisha, Observer Reading this book was so therapeutic. I often feel like I'm in between cultures, not Chinese or Malaysian enough to be either, but also not fully British or English. Reading essays from people who have also experienced life like this was very enriching and validated a lot of feelings I've had while growing up.

East Side Voices | personal stories of Gemma Chan, Katie Leung

Publishing in January 2022, EAST SIDE VOICES is a first-of-its-kind essay anthology that showcases the brightest East and Southeast Asian voices in Britain today. A first book of its kind: a collection of essays from the perspective of East and South-East Asian voices in Britain, curated and edited by Helena Lee. As I'm a British-born Chinese and rarely come across any books about lives similar to mine, I was so excited to read this book and absolutely delighted when @sceptrebooks offered to send me a copy. In 2020, Helena Lee, acting deputy editor of Harper’s Bazaar, created East Side Voices, a monthly literary salon in London highlighting the work of Asian writers. This compelling collection of essays features several of the salon participants writing about their experiences as part of the diaspora of Asian and Southeast Asians living in Britain. I discovered this book thanks to the actress Gemma Chan whom I adore enormously. She also wrote an essay for this book, so I bought it haha. How long have you had this?” I asked in amazement. He shrugged. This was no ordinary plastic bag. Indeed, the bag was not of this millennium.It is a testament to the quality of each author’s writing that despite the brevity of each account, I became deeply invested in their stories. I also found myself reflecting on my own experiences and difficulties as an Asian immigrant with greater clarity and understanding. Asian women are blighted by racist and sexist tropes: the demure, obedient little woman; the steely, relentless Tiger Mothers; and the sexy, compliant super babes. Discussing passing for white, mixed race writer Rowan Hisayo Buchanan, recounts the times she has passed but wished she hadn’t. Such as when white men tell her they rate women by race, White, Asian, and Half, wearing their racism with a strange kind of pride. Women are guilty of blatant racism too, like the random woman who says, “Alright, Ching Chong?” as Hisayo Buchanan walks past. The evening is hosted by Helena Lee, founder of the East Side Voices salon and editor of East Side Voices: Essays Celebrating East and Southeast Asian Identity, and features poetry, discussion and live readings by contributors to this first-of-its-kind anthology.