The bookshop Foyles is to partner with a publishing network to launch a new festival featuring writers from east and south-east Asia, thought to be the first in the UK focused wholly on writers from the region.
Running in September, the ESEA Lit Fest is being launched by the ESEA Publishing Network, a group of publishing professionals in the UK book industry, in partnership with the bookshop.
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.
Garbutt-Lucero, who co-manages and writes for Florence Welch’s book club Between Two Books and launched a Filipino food pop-up in 2018, said that while growing up she “felt the dearth of literature available by east and south-east Asians, particularly British voices”.
“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.”
Garbutt-Lucero said the festival had enlisted “two icons of the ESEA community”. Helena Lee, who created the East Side Voices salon in 2020 and published an anthology of the same name, will host an East Side Voices event, while the writer Jenny Lau, whose platform Celestial Peach brings the ESEA food community together through potlucks and fundraisers, will run one of her #AsianDessertExchange charity fundraisers.
Joanna Lee said: “In 2022’s East Side Voices, Helena Lee talks about the ‘cycle of systemic non-representation’ of British east and south-east Asian identity. In publishing and the media more widely, we’ve found this to be true and endlessly frustrating – our aim with the ESEA Lit Fest is to disrupt this cycle, create space for solidarity, and showcase the breadth of ESEA talent from across the diaspora. We’re thrilled to be partnering with Foyles on this initiative and are excited about what’s to come.”
The festival will take place at Foyles’ flagship store on Charing Cross Road in London on 23 September, during ESEA Heritage Month.
The ESEA Publishing Network has held events to bring publishing professionals and writers together, including a lunar new year celebration. Forthcoming events include a Debuts Night, in partnership with publisher 4th Estate on 16 February, featuring authors Cecile Pin, Wiz Wharton and Nicola Dinan as well as a preview of RF Kuang’s Yellowface.
