A Probability of Being

One fine evening, I asked for poetry prompts, and a friend asked me to write a poem about bananas, the linguistic kind. I had to look it up. This was about three years ago, and it's still silly. Fruit Flies Like A Banana, Part 1:  “Mine,” snarked the snail. “No, mine!” cried the slug. “WE SHALL DESCEND AS A HOARD UPON THIS AND CLAIM IT AS OUR ANCESTRAL BIRTHRIGHT,” claimed the fruit flies. Thus was there a bloody war over the forgotten banana carelessly thrown under the bush. Fruit Flies Like A Banana, Part 2: Whenever they flapped their leaves, they tried very hard to mimick the grace of the yellow boomerang swirling in the air, leaving a smoothie in its wake. Ah, if only they could be content with the reality of being far-flung instead of trying to be what they were not. Fruit Flies Like A Banana, Part 3: But I’m not sure that this is a good idea; banana trees may only produce a single bunch in their lifetimes, but they also never stop growing and ...

I'll be at the International Conference of the Fantastic in the Arts again this year! I'll be reading on the "Words & Worlds: Poetry I" panel, Thursday, March 23, 10.30am - 12pm, Captiva B! And then I'll be discussing "The Politics of the Human in N.K. Jemisin's Fiction" on Friday, March 23, 2.30pm - 4pm in the Dogwood! I'll be among really big scholars like John Rieder, who wrote Colonialism and the Emergence of Science Fiction (a key text in helping me shape my dissertation), as well as beloved colleagues like fellow UC Riverside grad Taylor Evans! Outside of panels you'll likely find me grading in the Marriott lobby, or hunting Pokemon around the lake. I'm very excited to be seeing friends like Kathryn Allan (disability scholar), Emily Jiang (poet!), and K. Tempest Bradford, as well as seeing former Clarion instructors Andy Duncan (and probably also Ted Chiang). 

i. The Proper Adjective perhaps not Happy New Year try a Furious New Year on for size try determined new year, try incandescent glorious righteous , try full of fight , try striving for justice , try screaming to the heavens new year ii. On Chickens Chickens are delicious. Chickens are also delightful creatures. Unfairly maligned as stupid, chickens are darling sweethearts that will sit calm in your arms, clucking soothingly. Chickens let their chicks find refuge in tender, warm, feathery hugs. Wouldn't you want that for your children, too? Be a good chook mom to them and other chicks, too. iii. The Moon, The Moon Lunar New Year springtime sprouts blossoms burst green shoots yellow pollen sun glares snow storms maybe gray skies lunar cycles lunatic songs counting days by crescents bright moon dark moon flickering lamplights 2% chance of rapists in the dark 80% chance of hurt at home 100% chance of fuckery in the big house making laws 1000% fed u...

My first publication of 2017 is a review of Arrival , directed by Denis Villenevue, starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, and Forest Whitaker! I had the opportunity to catch an early screening at UC San Diego, which also included a reception with the author of the original story that the screenplay is based on, Ted Chiang!  I refrained from getting too personal in my review, but I watched it at a time when I was really depressed, about ready to quit my PhD, and just overwhelmed generally. It's uplifting not only for its optimistic ending when nations come together in a unified purpose, but also for its echoes from the novella, that there is a future to create, a chronology to act upon. It's cheering, even a little, to think that there is a future, and one doesn't know just yet what's at the end of it, what is the sum amount of happiness to be gained. And that even the upcoming unhappiness is maybe worth it. I want my curiosity to find out how it all really shakes...

As I publish more, it's been fun to look back on my old fiction to see what I used to do that I don't anymore, what concerned me then and how that has changed. So I thought I'd post some old old and possibly terribly embarrassing fiction over time. Today's story is "The Changeling," inspired by Asimovian robots and the question of humanity and sentience in artificial intelligence. Further ruminations on the story afterwards.

So I guess this is the time of year that we tally up what we have published over the year. And, despite how rotten the year has been going, I think this is my personal best in terms of what I managed to get published! Now if only that translated into academic publishing, too.  Poetry: " Sweetness and Light " was published in the inaugral issue of recompose magazine ! It is a poem about a young woman who literally spews forth sweetness and light when she speaks, and her sense of degradation when other people feel entitled to her. It is 50 lines, so eligible for Best Long Poem Rhysling.  Short fiction: " Anak Sungai " was published in Truancy, a little story about a river meeting various forest animals as she goes out to sea. There is one animal she wants to find but he is a tricky one.  " Crocodile Tears " was published in Lightspeed Magazine, a retelling of two Malaysian folktales: one of Si Tenggang, the faithless son, and the other tal...

I'm going to be at LosCon43: Starship LosCon! Click for my schedule of panels, and come out to see me! I'll also be tabling for the Eaton Special Collection of UC Riverside. We'll be showing off some of our items, and telling you all about the cool science fiction research that you could be doing with us!

My latest publication is Hidden Youth: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History ! And the book is officially out November 21, 2016! My story "A Name to Ashes" will be the second story you'll read in the book, and it has this marvelous illustration by Alice Meichi Li ! Alice is a Chinese-American artist based in New York City, and we talked a little about representation over Twitter. I love the illustration so much! Here is the black-and-white version you'll see in the book: © Alice Meichi Li! My story is about a young clerk who accompanies the historical Chen Lanpin on what would be known as the Chinese Commission to Cuba of 1874. Excerpts from the results of this report have been translated. I first learned about it when taking a class on race and racism in the United States, in which the professor gave us a transnational view of how slavery and indentured servitude created rifts and alliances between various groups. Our textbook for this segmen...

Interfictions Online , a journal of interstitial arts, has released their latest issue! This issue includes an interview with Tade Thompson by Sofia Samatar, poetry by Neile Graham and Jeanne Hall Gailey , as well as a new short story by Nino Cipri !  I'm so pleased that my story, " Mana Langkah Pelangi Terakhir? (Where is the Rainbow's Last Step?) " is in such great company! "Langkah Pelangi" is inspired by a dream I had in which I found a friend in a jail far away from home, and the last I saw of her was in a sampan punting off to sea. I get home to discover that she has died, and been mythologized. And I thought, wouldn't that be kinda crazypants to live in a work where the collective imagination could have so much power, that a dead person could become a myth that never dies ? What if that was literal? I had a lot of trouble with this story. It bounced off a couple of places, and each time I revised it, and then revised it some more upo...

I don't usually announce when I've signed a contract, and tend to announce future publication news only when I have a Table of Contents to share, but it's coming into the last quarter of 2016, and I'm putting together my CV and had to count up my forthcoming publications. The other day I thought I had three. But no, upon further reflection, I actually have four.  "Mana Langkah Pelangi Terakhir," translated one way into "Where Is The Rainbow's Last Step," will be out in the Fall issue of Interfictions Online . It is about what might happen in our world where, if enough people dream the same thing and relate the same stories enough times with enough conviction, even if it isn't true or possible, it will come true. Our heroine is a journalist trying to make sense of this in light of a colleague's re-appearance. I tend to forget about this one because it's already fall so I kind of think it's already out, except it's not, just...

My short story "Crocodile Tears" is now live at the Lightspeed Magazine website !!! In addition, I got a little author spotlight as well ! Thanks to my editor Wendy Wagner, and to EIC John Joseph Adams for publishing this!!

It's my birthday week--I have resolved to start on the day before (especially here in North America, because I was born in Malaysia, so my birthday is always 12 hours behind here!) and celebrate it all the way to the end of the week. This started sometime in my late 20s, because the surprise that I am still alive past the age of 21 somehow doesn't lift. I'm always a little outside my body at this time of year: how did I make it this far? In my teens I was convinced I would be dead by now, because at that age I simply couldn't see past 21.  Yet here I am. Part of a small family of writers and readers, with friends who are delightful and creative and kind and sweet. Among this family's ranks is S. Qiouyi Lu, who I met on the Tumblr, and who has since blossomed into a wonderful poet! Their poem " Meat Bone Tea ," based on the legendary bak kut teh soup I've made for the both of us on the occasion of their being back in California, was recently publish...

The latest issue of Lightspeed Magazine, containing my short story "Crocodile Tears" is now live! If you have a subscription you'll be able to read it immediately, of course. If not, you can subscribe to this fine magazine or buy it as an individual ebook ! There is also a schedule for when it's released on the main website --"Crocodile Tears" is out on the 20th of September and I shall be sure to post a direct link to it as soon as I can! In the mean time, you can enjoy other marvelous stories in the issue ^_^

" I was chosen for the Constitutional Convention! " is generally how I feel about being able to say that I will be editing The WisCon Chronicles, Vol. 11 !! The theme will be " Trials by Whiteness. "  WisCon40 followed a seismic shift in the demographics of the convention. Following the success of the POC Safer Space, there is now a Genderqueer / Trans Lounge, and a Disability Lounge. Programming actively seeks a diversity of panelists. How have these changes come about, and what have their ramifications been? The theme, "Trials by Whiteness" examines how what bell hooks calls the white-supremacist capitalist (cishetero)patriarchy has affected the feminism of WisCon and created difficult confrontations and conversations on the clashing perceptions of attendees. "Whiteness" refers to the position from which white supremacy operates. It has constantly moving goalposts by which everyone is measured. Whiteness does not refer only to white...

I'm pleased to announce that I'm in the September 2016 issue of Lightspeed Magazine ! I sold the story last year but generally refrain from announcing anything official until I see a table of contents. And wow! I'm sharing a TOC with An Owomoyela and Nisi Shawl! Also Maria Dhavana Headley, who I had the chance to participate in a class Skype session with while I was at Clarion!  My story, "Crocodile Tears," will be familiar to attendees of the reading I did with Nisi Shawl and Sam J. Miller this past ICFA. It's a combination of two of my favourite Malay folktales, the story of Si Tenggang, and the story of the old woman and the crocodiles. This will be the second story this year with crocodiles who are not mean and nasty (the first being " Anak Sungai " at Truancy). I hope you enjoy "Crocodile Tears"!

Neil Clarke, publisher of Clarkesworld , is editor of the Best Science Fiction of the Year: Volume One from Night Shade Books this year. He selected a range to be published in the anthology, and since it apparently doesn't encompass everything he wanted, he also has a recommended reading list for best science fiction of 2015. " Liminal Grid " is on that list!

And I'm in it! Lim Jia was raised by the local monks, and has the ability to see the spirits of the departed. Jia joins the Chinese Commission to Cuba as a clerk to search for a long-lost brother, and finds many others long lost in the process.

I'm pleased to announce that I'm in recompose magazine #1: tropospheric scofflaw ! And very very honoured that my poem, " Sweetness and Light ," opens the magazine to a set of very interesting flash fiction! "Sweetness and Light" began with an idea of the very first two lines: "when she speaks, sweetness and light spill forth / literally." What would that be like, to live like that? Combined with rape culture and the entitlement of society towards young women's bodies and time, I decided to explore what would happen if boundaries were crossed too often for a person who lived with this phenomenon. Enjoy! 

I will be attending WisCon40! Here is my schedule for the weekend: YES, Our Stories Matter: Encouragement and Support For Creators With Marginalized Identities Friday, 4pm - 5.15pm, University C Jaymee Goh (M), Riley, Alex Jennings, Mark Oshiro, Susan Simensky Bietila  Marginalization affects our success as creators, oppression impacts our ability to create and can grind us down. At the same time, encouragement can come in many ways, from reader comments to supporting each other as marginalized creators. Let's discuss issues like: Why do you keep creating? When do you know you've touched someone with your art? How do you recharge after a setback? How can we support each other within and between different marginalized groups? When it feels like the whole world is telling you that your story doesn't matter, where do you find the strength to pick up the pen? The Downsides to Maker Culture Sat, 9:00–10:15 pm, Conference 1 Georgie L. Schnobrich (M), Candra K...

In loving memory of Goh Mei Mei, passed 4/4/16