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ESEA Lit Fest expands to Southbank Centre for 2024
The East and South East Asian literary festival (ESEA Lit Fest) is expanding to the Southbank Centre for 2024. Alongside this, the festival has launched an open submission process to discover new speakers for this year’s events.
The expanded festival returns in September, coinciding with the UK’s fifth ESEA Heritage Month, and the organisers are looking for “exciting voices in ESEA literature” from the UK and beyond.
A day of readings, conversations and workshops will take place at Foyles Charing Cross on Saturday 21st September, and the festival will come to a close with an event at the Southbank Centre the following day.
Moreover, Foyles branches at Charing Cross Road and on the South Bank will feature in-store displays of ESEA books throughout the month. The retailer’s website will also celebrate ESEA Heritage Month while highlighting the festival.
“In 2023, we established a landmark event for East and South East Asian literature in the UK with Foyles. Harry and the team have been dream partners and we’re delighted to be continuing our partnership with them and expanding the festival with a finale at the Southbank Centre,” said Joanna Lee, the co-founder of ESEA Lit Fest. “We’re excited to be working with our headline sponsors, Paper Literary and Hachette UK and their employee network THRIVE, to deliver another vital celebration of ESEA talent this year.”
The ESEA Publishing Network was founded in 2022 by Hodder & Stoughton publicity director Maria Garbutt-Lucero and Atlantic Books commissioning editor Joanna Lee, while the festival launched last year. The network, which is run by volunteers, aims to amplify the voices of East and South East Asian writers, and to promote ESEA talent working across the UK publishing industry. It is open to all ESEA publishing professionals, as well as anyone looking to break into the industry.
“The inaugural, sold-out ESEA Lit Fest was a highlight in the Foyles Charing Cross Road events programme in 2023, so we are beyond excited to build on the success of last year and to collaborate on an expanded festival for 2024,” commented Foyles events manager Harry McNamara. “Maria and Joanna from the ESEA Publishing Network are amazing to work with – knowledgeable, creative, dedicated. We cannot wait to share this year’s plans for what has already become a must-see fixture in the UK literary events calendar.”
The open submissions process will close by 1pm on 1st May 2024, while the ESEA Publishing Network summer party held in collaboration with THRIVE/Hachette UK at Carmelite House in London will take place on Wednesday 5th June.
