Emerging Malaysian Writers 2018

While I make it a point to support local publications, I have low expectations. The running joke is that I have a gift of going to the book shop and finding obscure self-published tomes that haven't been through an editor, buying them anyway and then raging at my friends about how this book could be SO MUCH BETTER if it was given a casual look-see by another person who knew English.Emerging Malaysian Writers 2018 had an army of editors who are accomplished and published writers and poets (well, only one identified as a poet) in their own right. The anthology featured 14 pieces, out of which half are poetry contributed by 5 poets, and the remaining 7 are short stories of various genres (one in Malay).And like most anthologies, there's something for every reader. Here are a few of my somethings:‘Break' by Chloe Lim featured an unusual narrator observing a class of students. The POV made a more interesting story out of what would be a tired plot from the perspective of a cookie cutter narrator. Sukanya Dhanarajan's piece is less of a short story and more of a memoir about ‘A Long Time Ago in Japan'. Nonetheless it was very easy to get into her tale of what it was like moving to a strange country before the Internet made it easier to do things. ‘The Missing Tomb' by Peter Soh slipped between the present and past of a family, with one heck of a climax.Sanjugtha Vineswaran's ‘Sellamah's Home' is probably my favourite of the 14 pieces - a ghost story with a twist at the end.And while I'm not going to review everything (there's one piece that's so short, this paragraph is longer), I was pleasantly surprised by how this is a decent collection put together with care. As expected, I don't love ALL the pieces, but I liked enough of them to recommend this book if you're looking for new Malaysian voices. I did not buy this at a book shop. I was part of the group that crowdfunded this anthology. If you want a copy, you can order one here.