Out-Spoken Press nets Wong and Tay’s international anthology of Asian poets and writers

Independent publisher Out-Spoken Press has signed a hybrid poetry and prose collection of writing from Asian writers, edited by Jennifer Wong and Eddie Tay.

For publication in autumn 2023, it was commissioned by Out-Spoken Press founder and managing editor Anthony Anaxagorou, who acquired world rights directly from Wong and Tay.

The publisher’s synopsis reads: “Spanning genres, continents and generations, Wong and Tay’s project, provisionally titled Poets in Correspondence: Asia Speaks, will weave together poetry, essay and correspondence between a wide range of Asian writers based across the UK, US, Hong Kong and Singapore—placing some of the sector’s most respected award-winning poets in conversation with up-and-coming voices, to offer readers lyrical insight into art, migration, activism and contemporary life."

Anaxagorou said: “I’m delighted to bring on board such a talented group of writers under Jenny and Eddie’s editorial vision, at a time when a plurality of perspectives, and drawing out filaments of connection spanning continents and generations, feels ever more acutely important.

Contributors are slated to include Pulitzer-shortlisted poet Arthur Sze, Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize winner Marilyn Chin, Whiting Award winner Li-Young Lee, Guggenheim fellow Victoria Chang, Costa Book Award winner Mary Jean Chan, Lambda Literary Award winner Nicholas Wong, Forward Prize winner Will Harris, Nina Mingya Powles, Khairani Barokka, Romalyn Ante, Jay Gao, and National Poetry Competition 2021 winner Eric Yip.

Wong, a poet and translator whose collection Letters Home was published by Nine Arches Press in 2020, said: “I am thrilled to collaborate with Eddie and fellow writers in this new anthology championed by Out-Spoken Press, creating much-needed space for new dialogues across the transnational Asian writing community.”