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Issue Details: First known date: 2016... 2016 The Near and the Far : New Stories from the Asia-Pacific Region
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'An ex-journalist on a sweltering night in Kuala Lumpur, raging in a city on the edge of meltdown; a young woman in present-day Iowa, reflecting on her two mothers in a Singapore of long ago; in Queensland’s Border Ranges, a boy prone to getting lost having six tiny bells pinned to his chest.

'All of these people are in the midst of change - divided by time and space, but living in a world of shrinking distances and disappearing differences.

'It’s what happens when you take award-winning writers from Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, put them in a room together, and see what they create. This book is the result of the Writers Immersion and Cultural Exchange program: a unique experiment dedicated to collaboration, immersion, and cultural exchange. It’s a document emerging from two years of residencies, workshops, and ongoing dialogues - a map of art and adventure, ideas and heart.

'Featuring fiction, nonfiction, and essays from Cate Kennedy, Melissa Lucashenko, Maxine Beneba Clarke, Omar Musa, and many more, The Near and the Far is a book that bridges the gaps between Asia, Australia, and the world. Every day is a border crossing, and every story is a threshold. This collection invites readers to grab their passports and step beyond.' (Publication summary)

Notes

  • Only literary material by Australian authors individually indexed. Other material in this issue includes:

    • My Two Mothers by Singaporean writer Suchen Christine Lim
    • The Illoi of Kantimeral by Singaporean writer Alvin Pang
    • Standing in the eyes of the World by Malaysian writer Bernice Chauly
    • The Diplomat's Child by American writer Robin Hemley
    • BG : The Significant Years by US writer Xu Xi
    • Treatise on Poetry by Myanma poet Nyein WAy
    • Some Hints About Travelling to the Country Your Family by American writer Laurel Fantauzzzo
    • Three Poems by Vietnamese poet Nguyen Bao Chan
    • Comadrona by Philippine writer Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz

Contents

* Contents derived from the Brunswick, Brunswick - Coburg area, Melbourne - North, Melbourne, Victoria,:Scribe , 2016 version. Please note that other versions/publications may contain different contents. See the Publication Details.
Foreword, Alice Pung , single work criticism
'I didn't do much travelling until I was twenty-seven. A strict Chinese upbringing coupled with the anxieties of genocide-surviving parents meant that I went through my university days living vicariously through the travel tales of my worldlier friends. The first time I went overseas by myself, I expected everything to be different: of course the architecture and food, but also the very material of the buildings, the composition of the leaves on the trees. I expected to see a substantially different world and was disappointed that the city of Beijing —apart from some historical quarters — looked like a city. I tried very hard to look for difference, so I could write original stories to send back home to my editor. I did not understand then that to write about a place is not to simply pick out points of difference, but to search for the things that make us commonly human, that this was the difference between an anecdote and a story with a heartbeat.' (Introduction)
(p. 1-4)
Introduction, David Carlin , Francesca Rendle-Short , single work criticism
'For centuries Macassan traders zigzagged across the waters between the Indonesian islands and Australia, fishing for trepang, or sea cucumber, and exchanging goods and culture with Australia's Aboriginal nations — songs and stories, art and language. Among all the thousands of communities in South-East Asia and Australia, there has been a constant to and fro of people, animals, plants, and objects, exotic, precious, and mundane. Borders have been made and remade, foreign armies suffered and driven out. In this most hybridised of regions, everything is interlaced, whether on the surface or below. We share the same winds and the same ocean currents. ' (Introduction)
(p. 5-9)
Dreamers, Melissa Lucashenko , single work short story

`Gimme an axe.'

'The woman blurted this order across the formica counter. When the shopkeeper turned and saw her brimming eyes he took a hasty step backwards. His rancid half-smile, insincere to begin with, vanished into the gloomy corners of the store. It was still very early. Outside, tucked beneath a ragged hibiscus bush, a hen cawed a single, doubtful note. Inside was nothing but this black girl and her highly irregular demand.' (Introduction)

(p. 13-23)
Floodlit, Laura Stortenbeker , single work short story (p. 24-32)
M, Amarlie Foster , single work short story
'First reading: For a couple of months after, it seemed every plane fell out of the sky. I was safe - around six thousand kilometers away.' (43)
(p. 43-55)
Trampoline, Joseph Rubbo , single work short story

'When we get home from school my brother's dad, Jerry, is out the front, leaning against a truck that has a trampoline strapped to the back of it.' (66)

(p. 66-76)
Hidden Things, Harriet McKnight , single work short story (p. 93-102)
You Think You Know, Omar Musa , single work short story (p. 103-112)
A Letter in Three Parts or Morei"Tugboat moored by the air-conditioning unit", Melody Paloma , single work short story (p. 123-127)
Incoming Tides, Cate Kennedy , single work short story (p. 128-141)
Unmade in Bangkok, David Carlin , single work short story (p. 182-196)
1:25,000, Francesca Rendle-Short , single work short story (p. 210-228)
Aviation, Maxine Beneba Clarke , single work short story (p. 229-236)
We Got Used to Here Fast, Jennifer Down , single work short story (p. 237-253)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Brunswick, Brunswick - Coburg area, Melbourne - North, Melbourne, Victoria,: Scribe , 2016 .
      image of person or book cover 5567227051114939797.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: 288p.
      Note/s:
      • Published 29 August 2016
      ISBN: 9781925321562

Works about this Work

David Carlin and Francesca Rendle-Short, Eds. The Near and the Far : New Stories from the Asia-Pacific Region Yen-Rong Wong , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 77 no. 2 2017; (p. 264-267)

'I am a child of Malaysian-Chinese parents, but was born and raised in Australia. Throughout my childhood (and, to be honest, even now), I never truly felt comfortable within the categories of “Malaysian,” “Chinese,” or “Australian.” I languished in the hyphenated mess that was Malaysian-Chinese-Australian, afraid i would never truly belong. so when I encountered the term “diaspora,” i felt something inside me breathe a sigh of relief. but even though I had a name for what I was feeling, it didn’t necessarily resolve my confusion around my identity.' (Introduction)

Offerings in Exchange Nicholas Jose , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: TEXT : Journal of Writing and Writing Courses , April vol. 21 no. 1 2017;
'The Near and the Far presents work in prose and poetry by twenty-one authors who participated in RMIT’s Writers Immersion and Cultural Exchange project from 2014. Activities included residencies in Penang, Hoi An and the Yarra Valley where creative writing was produced in solitude in the morning and shared with the group in the afternoon. Apart from the power and beauty of the individual works, the collection has the larger interest of the process, showing what can happen when creativity is prompted, provoked and nurtured in circumstances that are designed in a considered way but also expect the unexpected. This is new work ‘from the Asia-Pacific Region’, a peculiar but seemingly unavoidable bit of nomenclature, used more in Australia than elsewhere, to indicate a geo-political inclusiveness of which Australia desires to be part and a pragmatic flexibility about whether the designation refers to the writer or the story. Many of the authors and their stories are in fact mobile across this notional space, open to new possibilities, as Alice Pung notes in her foreword.' (Introduction)
Literary Bridges to Asia Derek Parker , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 August 2016; (p. 26)

— Review of The Near and the Far : New Stories from the Asia-Pacific Region 2016 anthology short story
Foreword Alice Pung , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Near and the Far : New Stories from the Asia-Pacific Region 2016; (p. 1-4)
'I didn't do much travelling until I was twenty-seven. A strict Chinese upbringing coupled with the anxieties of genocide-surviving parents meant that I went through my university days living vicariously through the travel tales of my worldlier friends. The first time I went overseas by myself, I expected everything to be different: of course the architecture and food, but also the very material of the buildings, the composition of the leaves on the trees. I expected to see a substantially different world and was disappointed that the city of Beijing —apart from some historical quarters — looked like a city. I tried very hard to look for difference, so I could write original stories to send back home to my editor. I did not understand then that to write about a place is not to simply pick out points of difference, but to search for the things that make us commonly human, that this was the difference between an anecdote and a story with a heartbeat.' (Introduction)
[Review Essay] : The Near and the Far : New Stories from the Asia-Pacific Region Sara Savage , 2016 single work review essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 386 2016; (p. 24)

'At the 2016 Melbourne Writers Festival, Maxine Beneba Clarke received a standing ovation for her opening address in which she pushed for greater diversity in literature. ‘Something powerful stirred,’ she said of reading the few books with diverse characters available to her as a teenager, from Sally Morgan to Judy Blume. ‘These were stories about difference and sameness, about home and unbelonging. They were my stories.’' (Introduction)

Literary Bridges to Asia Derek Parker , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 20-21 August 2016; (p. 26)

— Review of The Near and the Far : New Stories from the Asia-Pacific Region 2016 anthology short story
The Near and the Far Review : Impressive Anthology of Stories from Asia Pacific Kerryn Goldsworthy , 2016 single work review
— Appears in: Brisbane Times , 15 September 2016;

— Review of The Near and the Far : New Stories from the Asia-Pacific Region 2016 anthology short story
'Subtitled New stories from the Asia-Pacific Region, this anthology is a substantial collection of writing, mostly fiction and all in some way about travelling, from such well-known names as Melissa Lukashenko, Omar Musa and Maxine Beneba Clarke, as well as newer writers. An introduction by the editors and a foreword by Alice Pung give an overview and a rationale for putting this book together. ...'
[Review Essay] : The Near and the Far : New Stories from the Asia-Pacific Region Sara Savage , 2016 single work review essay
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , November no. 386 2016; (p. 24)

'At the 2016 Melbourne Writers Festival, Maxine Beneba Clarke received a standing ovation for her opening address in which she pushed for greater diversity in literature. ‘Something powerful stirred,’ she said of reading the few books with diverse characters available to her as a teenager, from Sally Morgan to Judy Blume. ‘These were stories about difference and sameness, about home and unbelonging. They were my stories.’' (Introduction)

Foreword Alice Pung , 2016 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Near and the Far : New Stories from the Asia-Pacific Region 2016; (p. 1-4)
'I didn't do much travelling until I was twenty-seven. A strict Chinese upbringing coupled with the anxieties of genocide-surviving parents meant that I went through my university days living vicariously through the travel tales of my worldlier friends. The first time I went overseas by myself, I expected everything to be different: of course the architecture and food, but also the very material of the buildings, the composition of the leaves on the trees. I expected to see a substantially different world and was disappointed that the city of Beijing —apart from some historical quarters — looked like a city. I tried very hard to look for difference, so I could write original stories to send back home to my editor. I did not understand then that to write about a place is not to simply pick out points of difference, but to search for the things that make us commonly human, that this was the difference between an anecdote and a story with a heartbeat.' (Introduction)
Offerings in Exchange Nicholas Jose , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: TEXT : Journal of Writing and Writing Courses , April vol. 21 no. 1 2017;
'The Near and the Far presents work in prose and poetry by twenty-one authors who participated in RMIT’s Writers Immersion and Cultural Exchange project from 2014. Activities included residencies in Penang, Hoi An and the Yarra Valley where creative writing was produced in solitude in the morning and shared with the group in the afternoon. Apart from the power and beauty of the individual works, the collection has the larger interest of the process, showing what can happen when creativity is prompted, provoked and nurtured in circumstances that are designed in a considered way but also expect the unexpected. This is new work ‘from the Asia-Pacific Region’, a peculiar but seemingly unavoidable bit of nomenclature, used more in Australia than elsewhere, to indicate a geo-political inclusiveness of which Australia desires to be part and a pragmatic flexibility about whether the designation refers to the writer or the story. Many of the authors and their stories are in fact mobile across this notional space, open to new possibilities, as Alice Pung notes in her foreword.' (Introduction)
David Carlin and Francesca Rendle-Short, Eds. The Near and the Far : New Stories from the Asia-Pacific Region Yen-Rong Wong , 2017 single work essay
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 77 no. 2 2017; (p. 264-267)

'I am a child of Malaysian-Chinese parents, but was born and raised in Australia. Throughout my childhood (and, to be honest, even now), I never truly felt comfortable within the categories of “Malaysian,” “Chinese,” or “Australian.” I languished in the hyphenated mess that was Malaysian-Chinese-Australian, afraid i would never truly belong. so when I encountered the term “diaspora,” i felt something inside me breathe a sigh of relief. but even though I had a name for what I was feeling, it didn’t necessarily resolve my confusion around my identity.' (Introduction)

Last amended 24 Mar 2020 08:25:37
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