Best Asian Poetry

Kitaab (Singapore) is seeking high-quality poetry submissions for its inaugural The Best Asian Poetry 2021 anthology, the latest addition to the long-standing annual Best Asian series of anthologies which aims to celebrate Asian literature as a constantly evolving, innovative and vibrant mode of literary expression.

There is no specific focus for our 2021 issue, only poetic excellence is the criterion. The anthology will be published in the last quarter of 2021 and we hope to launch it at the Singapore Writers Festival like our past prose anthologies. (Check out our earlier anthologies here)

Editor

The Best Asian Poetry 2021 anthology will be introduced, selected and edited by Sudeep Sen:

Sudeep Sen’s [www.sudeepsen.org] prize-winning books include: Postmarked India: New & Selected Poems (HarperCollins), Rain, Aria (A. K. Ramanujan Translation Award), Fractals: New & Selected Poems | Translations 1980-2015 (London Magazine Editions), EroText (Vintage: Penguin Random House), and Kaifi Azmi: Poems | Nazms (Bloomsbury). He has edited influential anthologies, including: The HarperCollins Book of English Poetry, World English Poetry, and Modern English Poetry by Younger Indians (Sahitya Akademi). Anthropocene: Climate Change, Contagion, Consolation; Blue Nude: Ekphrasis & New Poems (Jorge Zalamea International Poetry Prize) and The Whispering Anklets are forthcoming. Sen’s works have been translated into over 25 languages. His words have appeared in the Times Literary Supplement, Newsweek, Guardian, Observer, Independent, Telegraph, Financial Times, Herald, Poetry Review, Literary Review, Harvard Review, Hindu, Hindustan Times, Times of India, Indian Express, Outlook, India Today, and broadcast on bbc, pbs, cnn ibn, ndtv, air & Doordarshan. Sen’s newer work appears in New Writing 15 (Granta), Language for a New Century (Norton), Leela: An Erotic Play of Verse and Art (Collins), Indian Love Poems (Knopf/Random House/Everyman), Out of Bounds (Bloodaxe), Initiate: Oxford New Writing (Blackwell), and Name me a Word (Yale). He is the editorial director of AARK ARTS, editor of Atlas, and currently the inaugural artist-in-residence at the Museo Camera. Sen is the first Asian honoured to deliver the Derek Walcott Lecture and read at the Nobel Laureate Festival. The Government of India awarded him the senior fellowship for “outstanding persons in the field of culture/literature.”

Eligibility

Asians of all nationalities living anywhere in the world are eligible. By ‘Asian writers’, we mean all writers who belong to the continent of Asia. Non-Asian authors who have resided in and written extensively about an Asian country may also be considered in special cases.

Deadlines and Fees

Submission fee (until 31 March 2021): Free, but you have to be an annual subscriber of Kitaab (Become a subscriber here at S$10 a year). All submissions must be made together with the submission fee receipt or screenshot paid. For fee waiver requests in case of financial difficulties, please write to us at kitaab.sg@gmail.com

Format & Guidelines

Submissions should be emailed to thebestasianpoetry@gmail.com and cc to kitaab.sg@gmail.com. Please write the following as the subject header: Submission/TBAP2021/Author’s name (& Country)

Submissions must be sent as a MSWORD (.doc/.docx) attachment, typed single-spaced in Garamond 11 points, in the following order: 1. Name & Country; 2. Date of Birth & Country of Residence; 3. Author Bio: 100-150 words (maximum); 4. Only ONE submission (up to 5 poems) will be considered from each writer.

We prefer unpublished work, but previously published work in print or online maybe considered if the author provides gratis reprint rights. The rights will remain with the author/poet and Kitaab will only have non-exclusive publishing rights.

Translations from other languages are welcome but the submitter will be responsible for making sure that all copyright permissions are duly taken ahead of time. Simultaneous submissions are not encouraged, but will be considered in special cases. Please inform us immediately if the poem/s is/are accepted elsewhere.

Honorarium

As an honorarium, each selected poet will get a complimentary copy of the anthology or a $25 Kitaab voucher.

About Author

Editor_Kitaab

Namrata is a published author who enjoys writing stories and think pieces on travel, relationships, and gender. She is a UEA alumnus and has studied travel writing at the University of Sydney.

She is also an independent editor and a book reviewer. Her writings can be found on various sites and magazines like the Asian Review of Books, Contemporary South Asia Journal of King’s College-London, Mad in Asia, The Friday Times, Daily Star, The Scroll, Feminism in India, The Brown Orient Journal, Inkspire Journal, Moonlight Journal, The Same, Chronic Pain India and Cafe Dissensus.

Her short stories have been a part of various anthologies . She has also published two short story collections of her own along with two solo titles as well. She is currently working on her debut novel. She loves travelling the length and breadth of the world and enjoys capturing the magic of life in her words. She is always in pursuit of a new country and a new story.

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