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BooksActually's Gold Standard 2016
BooksActually's Gold Standard 2016 is a highly anticipated new annual anthology from indie bookstore BooksActually, comprising short fiction by the best cult writers of East Asia, Southeast Asia and the diaspora.
Showcasing some of the most compelling and original voices of the moment, this year's all-star collection features stories from nineteen writers.
Edited by Julie Koh, whose own fiction appears in 2016's Best Australian Stories and Best Australian Comedy Writing, BooksActually's Gold Standard will keep you in step with groundbreaking new output from Asian writers across the globe.
Featuring: A Yi / Avianti Armand / John Bengan / Chang Ching-Hung / Tom Cho / Linh Dinh / Eliza Vitri Handayani / Balli Kaur Jaswal / Tang Keyang / Jing-Jing Lee / Joe Milan Jr. / Laksmi Pamuntjak / Matthew Salesses / Ahmad Tohari / Tiffany Tsao / Dorothy Tse / Cyril Wong / Wu I-Wei / Kyoko Yoshida
Showcasing some of the most compelling and original voices of the moment, this year's all-star collection features stories from nineteen writers.
Edited by Julie Koh, whose own fiction appears in 2016's Best Australian Stories and Best Australian Comedy Writing, BooksActually's Gold Standard will keep you in step with groundbreaking new output from Asian writers across the globe.
Featuring: A Yi / Avianti Armand / John Bengan / Chang Ching-Hung / Tom Cho / Linh Dinh / Eliza Vitri Handayani / Balli Kaur Jaswal / Tang Keyang / Jing-Jing Lee / Joe Milan Jr. / Laksmi Pamuntjak / Matthew Salesses / Ahmad Tohari / Tiffany Tsao / Dorothy Tse / Cyril Wong / Wu I-Wei / Kyoko Yoshida
- GenresShort Stories
350 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2016
6 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Julie Koh
20 books69 followersJulie Koh studied politics and law at the University of Sydney, then quit a career in corporate law to pursue writing. She is the author of two short-story collections: Capital Misfits and Portable Curiosities. The latter was shortlisted for several literary prizes and led to Julie being named a 2017 Sydney Morning Herald Best Young Australian Novelist. Her short stories have appeared in publications including the Best Australian Stories in 2014 to 2017, and Best Australian Comedy Writing. Outside Australia, her fiction has been published in China, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, Ireland and the United States. Julie edited BooksActually’s Gold Standard, co-founded the experimental literary collective Kanganoulipo, and was a judge for the 2018 Stella Prize. She is also the librettist for the satirical opera Chop Chef.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
March 11, 2017
So, a few Facebook friends were launching a book that sounded interesting so I went along to a launch in Sydney, and enjoyed the readings enough that I bought a copy of Gold Standard 2016.
It really is an interesting collection of short fiction, with voices from Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and writers from the diaspora.
Since some of my first literary influences were anthologies of mostly gay short fiction of the late 80s and early 90s, it's interesting to feel the differences. There are some very clearly different voices here than North American fiction, and while very different from each other, some more fable like, some social commentary, there was a sense of place, a contemporary place, mostly centred in Asian capitals, villages or families. And nearly all the stories are relatively short; it feels like the world's attention span has become small. While sometimes this left me wanting for more, a stronger development of an idea, more narrative than was offered (for example, Cyril Wong's 'Blindness' is a poetic exploration of gay love, the protagonist negotiating a relationship with someone losing their site, yet I wanted more than the lovely sketch provided) – I also admit to being very engaged by the diversity of voices and locations.
From the fantastically literary and partically academic opening story by Kyoko Yoshida into a ghost story by Chang Ching-Hung then to a too-familiar idea of an abused Asian cleaning lady by Jing-Jing Lee, the collection offers a real breadth of subject matter and voice. So, I think readers will gravitate towards their favourites: tough family social commentary or something more surreal.
From the introduction, I learn that some of the authors are established (though perhaps not as known in the West) and other writers are newer. In some ways, the short stories of writers from the Asian diaspora have a different tone and setting (i.e. not in Asia) and yet, I found them particularly engaging: Matthew Salesses's The Hum or the quirky and thoughtful 'Are You There, God? It is I, Robot' by Tom Cho. A number of stories speak of dysfunctional Asian families, too much pressure from parents on kids, or loveless partnerships with the burdens of societal and gender roles.
The question does arise for me: what is the connecting thread? I don't quite understand what is meant by the phrase 'cult writers' and the idea of a 'Gold Standard' seems silly to me. How does one adjudicate between Asian short story writers and then decide if there is some sort of best?
But stripped of expecations, I really enjoyed this collection, this opportunity to read engaging short fiction with settings and narrators I'm not familiar with – which all come together into a nice literary experience. If this is a representation of the short fiction that's coming out of Asia these days, this anthology makes me want to explore more.
It really is an interesting collection of short fiction, with voices from Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, and writers from the diaspora.
Since some of my first literary influences were anthologies of mostly gay short fiction of the late 80s and early 90s, it's interesting to feel the differences. There are some very clearly different voices here than North American fiction, and while very different from each other, some more fable like, some social commentary, there was a sense of place, a contemporary place, mostly centred in Asian capitals, villages or families. And nearly all the stories are relatively short; it feels like the world's attention span has become small. While sometimes this left me wanting for more, a stronger development of an idea, more narrative than was offered (for example, Cyril Wong's 'Blindness' is a poetic exploration of gay love, the protagonist negotiating a relationship with someone losing their site, yet I wanted more than the lovely sketch provided) – I also admit to being very engaged by the diversity of voices and locations.
From the fantastically literary and partically academic opening story by Kyoko Yoshida into a ghost story by Chang Ching-Hung then to a too-familiar idea of an abused Asian cleaning lady by Jing-Jing Lee, the collection offers a real breadth of subject matter and voice. So, I think readers will gravitate towards their favourites: tough family social commentary or something more surreal.
From the introduction, I learn that some of the authors are established (though perhaps not as known in the West) and other writers are newer. In some ways, the short stories of writers from the Asian diaspora have a different tone and setting (i.e. not in Asia) and yet, I found them particularly engaging: Matthew Salesses's The Hum or the quirky and thoughtful 'Are You There, God? It is I, Robot' by Tom Cho. A number of stories speak of dysfunctional Asian families, too much pressure from parents on kids, or loveless partnerships with the burdens of societal and gender roles.
The question does arise for me: what is the connecting thread? I don't quite understand what is meant by the phrase 'cult writers' and the idea of a 'Gold Standard' seems silly to me. How does one adjudicate between Asian short story writers and then decide if there is some sort of best?
But stripped of expecations, I really enjoyed this collection, this opportunity to read engaging short fiction with settings and narrators I'm not familiar with – which all come together into a nice literary experience. If this is a representation of the short fiction that's coming out of Asia these days, this anthology makes me want to explore more.
April 27, 2018
Somewhat uneven, really 3.5 stars overall. My favourite piece was Tom Cho’s are you there, god? It is I, robot which was brilliant and funny. A lot of the other pieces I found rather forgettable or I couldn’t really get into them. Balli Kaur jaswal’s story was also a standout. Am I just unfamiliar with a more foreign story structure or the local contexts? I’m not sure. Also this took me absolutely ages to get through - from dec 2016 to April 2018. Not an easy read at all!
February 4, 2019
Aside from a couple of stories I skipped (out of 19), I really like the variety that this collection presented. Quite a few stood out for me, and thanks to that, I've discovered some new writers to follow.
March 26, 2020
A peek into what Southeast and East Asian writers are writing about and the way they are writing about it: talking about familiar & unfamiliar topics in ways that still converses to the reader’s soul- like how all short stories, or a collection of it, should.
March 24, 2019
A great compilation of short pieces. I got this while I was in Singapore in one of the most original bookshops I have ever seen on a day that's unforgettable.
April 4, 2019
Splendid collection of rather eclectic stories.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews