The Asia Literary Review was a quarterly literary journal published in English and distributed internationally. It included articles of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and the photography genre. The journal first published in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

in 2000 as a small local literary journal called Dim Sum, founded by Nuri Vittachi. Later, Nuri became involved with British businessman and philanthropist

Ilyas Khan Ilyas Khan Order of St. Gregory the Great, KSG (born 1962) is a British technologist and businessman. He is the founder of Cambridge Quantum Computing. Early life Ilyas Tariq Khan was raised in Lancashire (North West England). His grandparents e ...

, who provided encouragement and financial support for the first decade. Khan was a Hong Kong supporter of arts and together they created an international showcase for writers from the Asian region. The journal advocated Asian writers by providing a platform for their work to be read in English by international readers. The journal ceased publication suddenly and without any explanation in 2019 during the Hong Kong protests. After a year-long hiatus on its

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account, the Asia Literary Review posted an uncaptioned photo of the

goddess of democracy The ''Goddess of Democracy'', also known as the ''Goddess of Democracy and Freedom'', the ''Spirit of Democracy'', and the ''Goddess of Liberty'' (; ''zìyóu nǚshén''), was a statue created during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. The sta ...

on June 4, 2020, the 31st anniversary of its destruction in

Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square (; 天安门广场; Pinyin: ''Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng''; Wade–Giles: ''Tʻien1-an1-mên2 Kuang3-chʻang3'') is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the eponymous Tiananmen (" ...

Contributors/Interview subjects

The magazine published interviews with figures such as

Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from ...

, David Mitchell,

Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie (; born 19 June 1947) is an Indian-born British-American novelist. His work often combines magic realism with historical fiction and primarily deals with connections, disruptions, and migrations between Eastern and Wes ...

and

Kyung-sook Shin Kyung-Sook Shin, also Shin Kyung-sook or Shin Kyoung-sook (, born 12 January 1963), is a South Korean writer. She was the only South Korean and only woman to win the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2012 for '' Please Look After Mom''. Life Kyung-So ...

(2011 winner of the

Man Asian Literary Prize The Man Asian Literary Prize was an annual literary award between 2007 and 2012, given to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English, and published in the previous calendar year. It is awarded to writer ...

). Other contributors includes

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nin ...

, Justin Hill,

Liu Xiaobo Liu Xiaobo (; 28 December 1955 – 13 July 2017) was a Chinese writer, literary critic, human rights activist, philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize laureate who called for political reforms and was involved in campaigns to end communist one-par ...

Su Tong Tong Zhonggui (; born January 23, 1963), known by the pen name of Su Tong () is a Chinese writer. He was born in Suzhou and lives in Nanjing. He entered the Department of Chinese at Beijing Normal University in 1980, and started to publish nov ...

Arvind Krishna Mehrotra Arvind Krishna Mehrotra (born 1947) is an Indian poet, anthologist, literary critic and translator. Biography Arvind Krishna Mehrotra was born in Lahore in 1947. He has published six collections of poetry in English and two of translation � ...

Laurie Thompson Laurie Thompson (26 February 1938 – 8 June 2015) was a British academic and translator, noted for his translations of Swedish literature into English. Thompson was born in York, England, and lived in northern Sweden for a few years. He was t ...

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Kim Young-ha Young-ha Kim(c. November 11, 1968) is a modern South Korean writer. Life Kim was born in Hwacheon on November 11, 1968. He moved from place to place as a child, since his father was in the military. As a child, he suffered from gas poisoning f ...

Ko Un Ko Un (born 1 August 1933) is a South Korean poet whose works have been translated and published in more than fifteen countries. He had been imprisoned many times due to his role in the campaign for Korean democracy and was later mentioned in K ...

, Zheng Danyi,

Bei Dao Bei Dao (, born August 2, 1949) is the pen name of the Chinese-American writer Zhao Zhenkai (S: 赵振开, T: 趙振開, P: ''Zhào Zhènkāi''). Among the most acclaimed Chinese-language poets of his generation, he is often regarded as a candida ...

Shehan Karunatilaka Shehan Karunatilaka (born 1975) is a Sri Lankan writer. He grew up in Colombo, studied in New Zealand and has lived and worked in London, Amsterdam and Singapore. His 2010 debut novel '' Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew'' won the Commonwea ...

and Xu Xi.

Poetry Parnassus

At Poetry Parnassus, part of the

London 2012 The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Cultural Olympiad An olympiad ( el, Ὀλυμπιάς, ''Olympiás'') is a period of four years, particularly those associated with the ancient and modern Olympic Games. Although the ancient Olympics were established during Greece's Archaic Era, it was not until ...

, an ''Asia Literary Review'' Celebration Reading was held at the

Southbank Centre Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge). It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...

. Participants included

Marjorie Evasco Marjorie Evasco (born September 21, 1953) is a Filipina poet. She writes in two languages: English and Cebuano-Visayan and is a supporter of women's rights, especially of women writers. Marjorie Evasco is one of the earliest Filipina feminist po ...

, Jang Jin-sung,

Kim Hyesoon Kim Hyesoon () is a South Korean poet. Life Kim Hyesoon was born in Uljin County, North Gyeongsang Province. She was raised by her grandmother and had tuberculous pleurisy as a child. She received her Ph.D. in Korean literature from Konkuk U ...

Alvin Pang Alvin Pang (Chinese: 冯啟明; pinyin: ''Féng Qǐ Míng''; born 1972, Singapore) was named 2005 Young Artist of the Year (Literature) by the National Arts Council Singapore. He holds a First Class Honours degree in English literature from the ...

, Laksmi Pamuntjak and Jennifer Wong. The event was covered by the Philippine Star and other media including CBN News.

Staff

Managing Editor: Phillip Kim (Listed on website as business and finance director) Editor in Chief: Martin Alexander 2010-Present (Poetry editor 2000 - 2015) Consulting Editors: Peter Koenig, Robert Hemley, Anurima Roy Senior Editors: Justin Hill, Kavita Jindal, Miichael Vatikiotis, Zheng Danyi

Former staff

Editor: Chris Wood (2008? -?) Literary Editor: Kelly Falconer (Nov 2011 - Dec 2012) Managing Editor and co-founder: Duncan Jepson (2004 - 2011) contributors includes

, Justin Hill,

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

, Zheng Danyi,

and Xu Xi.

Poetry Parnassus

At Poetry Parnassus, part of the

, an ''Asia Literary Review'' Celebration Reading was held at the

. Participants included

, Jang Jin-sung,

, Laksmi Pamuntjak and Jennifer Wong. The event was covered by th
Philippine Star
and other media includin
CBN News

Staff

Managing Editor: Phillip Kim (Listed on website as business and finance director)

Editor in Chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

: Martin Alexander 2010- (Poetry editor 2000 - 2015) Consulting Editors: Peter Koenig, Robert Hemley, Anurima Roy Senior Editors: Justin Hill, Kavita Jindal, Miichael Vatikiotis, Zheng Danyi

Former staff

Editor: Chris Wood (2008? -?) Literary Editor: Kelly Falconer (Nov 2011 - Dec 2012) Managing Editor and co-founder: Duncan Jepson (2004 - 2011)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Art magazines published in China Literary magazines published in China Magazines published in Hong Kong Magazines established in 2000 Quarterly magazines published in Hong Kong English-language magazines