East Side Voices: Essays celebrating East and Southeast Asian identity in Britain

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I learned a lot by reading it, there are things that I didn't know completely. There are things that apply to all women unfortunately.

East Side Voices by Helena Lee | Hachette UK East Side Voices by Helena Lee | Hachette UK

The festival will take place at Foyles’ flagship store on Charing Cross Road in London on 23 September, during ESEA Heritage Month.East Side Voices is a collection of essays written by people with East and South East Asian identity that lives in Britain. The themes and topics explored in this were very wide, which i appreciate. Every single essay is different from one another as they are all written by different people so it was refreshing to hear about each of their experiences but at the same time, the heart of the essays are the same which is about their journey of assimilating and accepting their identity and their experiences being Asian in Britain. I also learned A LOT from these essays. There were various infomation that I did not know and were horrified to learn, such as the fact that Filipinos make up the largest ethnic group of nurses in the NHS and in 2020 were the single largest nationality to die from Covid. In another essay, it was informed that Filipino nurses were the ones assigned most to the Covid wards in the UK during the critical times. There were also some essays here that were written during those first critical months and their experiences of racism that they had to endured because of it. I have not rated this 5 stars because, whilst I found myself connecting with the authors and their stories, I wanted - if not needed - more every time each story ended. Although upon reflection this may be unfair, given that the book purports to be, and is, a collection of short stories. Despite this, I just can’t help wishing there was more.

East Side Voices | Belfast Walking Tours and Museums East Side Voices | Belfast Walking Tours and Museums

The essays are sharpest when various forms of objectification intersect – for example when sexual and racial abuse combine, as with novelist Sharlene Teo’s excellent, self-lacerating piece on exotification: “Once, a man followed me down a platform at Paddington station, chanting ‘ ni hao, konnichiwa, sexy sexy’ and I told him to get lost – only for him to start shouting and running after me.” Gemma Chan on the truth about her father’s life at sea: ‘He knew what it was like to have nothing’ Once Upon a Time in... Middlesex when Helena Lee describes how upset she'd get doing her Chinese school homework and feeling like the language didn't belong to her anyway. Naomi Shimada’s ‘Ode to Obaa-chan’ (her grandmother). I found it incredibly touching, unapologetically honest, emotionally vulnerable and the relationship itself so beautiful.Take the rest of the noodles and the pak choi and you can have it for your lunch tomorrow.” My dad pushed the takeaway containers and their remaining contents across the table towards me. I discovered this book thanks to the actress Gemma Chan whom I adore enormously. She also wrote an essay for this book, so I bought it haha. Reading this book was so therapeutic. I often feel like I'm in between cultures, not Chinese or Malaysian enough to be either, but also not fully British or English. Reading essays from people who have also experienced life like this was very enriching and validated a lot of feelings I've had while growing up. In this bold, first-of-its kind collection, East Side Voices invites us to explore a dazzling spectrum of experience from the East and Southeast Asian diaspora living in Britain today.

East Side Voices: Celebrating ESEA Identity - Southbank Centre East Side Voices: Celebrating ESEA Identity - Southbank Centre

Ladyboy by June Bellebono was a beautiful essay and really highlighted the importance of the intersectionality with race when it comes to talking about LGBT+ issues.Many pieces reference meagre cultural representation and insulting stereotypes in TV and film, such as the contribution by Katie Leung, the Glaswegian actor cast as Cho Chang in the Harry Potter films. A private school rebel turned art school cool girl, Leung is as far from the cringing, sniffling Cho Chang as it’s possible to be. Yet her success is racialised: “I was not considered [for roles] unless race came into it.”