Banana Writers
- Where Asian writers get unpeeled -
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Editor-in-Chief:www.ppwongauthor.com
BW Issue 17
THE BW INTERVIEW: Loung Ung
“Soon darkness covers the land and still Pa has not returned.”
First They Killed My Father
Few people find the courage within themselves to face the darkness. Fewer still are able to step into that darkness and wring dignity out of it. Loung Ung is one such lady. Using her gift of writing to build memoirs of life in Cambodia’s killing fields, she brings a message of in her books, films, and activism.
“Whenever something can help you see pass the darkness, it’s healing,” says the survivor. BW catches up with this survivor who has transformed her silence into beauty.
We interview successful people in the publishing industry to help YOU in your journey as a Banana Writer
THE BW INSIDER: The Publicist
"To me, the most marketable authors are the ones who are willing to contribute their time and energy towards promoting their book. That means doing everything from at times answering the most rudimentary interview questions for a small fan blog to getting in front of a TV camera beaming you out to millions of viewers. There should be few things you are not willing to do, at least for the first book!"
In Part 5 of our BW INSIDER series, we meet Glory Plata, a forward-thinking and innovative publicist at Penguin Random House. She talks about why she became a publicist and shares about the immense amount of work that goes into helping an author become a bestseller.
“We need writers who are brave enough to look beyond the televised "facts" to the underlying issues, to the questions of who and what is valued in this society, revealing the falsehoods and convenient myths that the powerful employ to maintain the status quo.”
A talented American writer shares an inspiring article about the power of good writing.
LATEST BW ASIAN WRITERS TO GET UNPEELED
Thoughts from a Banana Writer: The Beautiful Reward
i’m a wind who provokes,
wandering through life's early moments,
sending a breeze of childhood innocence,
causing a hurricane of teenage rebellion
Read some amazing, thought-provoking poems now!
BW Poetry: Wind & Piano
BW Books: Meet Me in Venice
She had been working at the bar for less than a week when the skin on her hands started to peel. Little bits of skin, translucent and pink, flaked off like Parmesan cheese. Then the cracks appeared. Tiny fissures ruptured at the joints and split her knuckles open. She started to bleed.
Everyone told Ye Pei it was normal.
“We all go through this when we first start,” her boss said.
"You’re just not used to the work,” her mother reassured. “It will get better over time.”
Read an extract from Meet Me in Venice - a beautifully written intimate account of a girl’s migration to Italy.
Thoughts from a Banana Writer: At-one-ment
"Mrs Sutton the child psychologist takes me out of class once a week. I am usually doing some form of test: identifying objects, looking at painted shapes and forms, describing them and my feelings, playing games and I am often asked to draw. I love Mrs Sutton, she is very kind and looks after me. Every week she tells me not to worry that every child has a gift – we just need to find mine."
Read a moving, dark, pictorial story about abuse and damaging family relationships. Also, discover how the author built a successful life in Paris and why she channelled her horrific past into creating beautiful work.
BW Short Story: Strawberry Candy
I didn’t notice her sexiness, or rather, coquettishness till then. She started to walk to and fro in the narrow path between the two shelves, always facing the candy shelf with a look that was so enticing as if she was trying to seduce those candies, in the same way her black-mesh-stockinged long legs together with her kitten heels were seducing me.
Read a gripping, sensual story by a Chinese writer based in the UK.