The Art and Craft of Asian Stories: A Writer's Guide and Anthology

Description

An all-in-one craft guide and anthology, this is the first creative writing book to find inspiration and guidance in the diverse literary traditions of Asia. Including exemplary stories by leading writers from Japan, China, India, Singapore and beyond as well as those from Asian diasporas in Europe and America, The Art and Craft of Asian Stories offers an exciting take on the traditional how-to writing guide by drawing from a rich new trove of short stories beyond the western canon which readers may never have encountered before. Whilst still taking stock of the traditional elements of story such as character, viewpoint and setting, Xu and Hemley let these compelling stories speak for themselves to offer readers new ideas and approaches which could enrich their own creative work. Structured around the themes encountered in the stories, such as race and identity, history and power, family and aspirations, this text is a vital companion for writers at all levels keen to develop and find new perspectives on key elements of their craft. Written by two internationally successful writers and teachers, each chapter contains complete short stories and writing exercises for practice and inspiration.

Robin Hemley is Director of the George Polk School of Communications as well as Parsons Family Chair in Creative Writing, University Professor and Co-Chair of the MFA in Writing at LIU-Brooklyn, USA. He is also Professor Emeritus at The University of Iowa, USA, a graduate of The Iowa Writers' Workshop, and the award-winning author of 14 books of fiction and nonfiction. Xu Xi is a prolific Indonesian Chinese novelist and author from Hong Kong and New York. Her recent books include This Fish is Fowl: Essays of Being (2019),a memoir Dear Hong Kong: Elegy for a City (2017) and the novel That Man in Our Lives (2016). She is Faculty Co-Director of the International MFA at Vermont College of Fine Arts, USA, where she previously served as faculty chair for their MFA in writing. She also established and directed Asia's first low-residency MFA at the City University of Hong Kong.

The clarity with which Xu and Hemley break down the stories is remarkable ... The book's assessments of the machinations of these short stories reads a lot like a friendly, but sharp, editorial letter ... I enjoyed every paragraph of the editors' good advice. I loved the deft way in which they reminded us about the deeper message of inclusivity that's being posited here, from the book's raison d'etre to its gentle reminders about writing 'the other' carefully and respectfully. The question of authenticity is tackled to great effect, but never ad nauseum, and this reader is grateful for the book's continuous gentle, wry, tone. * Undomesticated Magazine * Xu Xi and Robin Hemley are brilliant guides to the art of fiction. This anthology, long awaited, is a joy to behold, illuminating a larger world for a new generation of writers. * Madeleine Thien, author of 'Do Not Say We Have Nothing' * Everyone knows that the domination of Western storytelling is a problem, but what to do about it? The Art and Craft of Asian Stories offers practical and thought-provoking advice. And you don't have to be an Asian storyteller, by the way, to be enriched and inspired by these pages. * Gish Jen, author of The Resisters *