Kitaab announces selections for The Best Asian Short Stories 2021

Kitaab organised a Google Meet to announce the selections for The Best Asian Short Stories 2021 (TBASS 2021) today.

In this online event, the stories/authors selected for the 5th annual edition of The Best Asian Short Stories (TBASS) 2021 was unveiled by this year’s editor, Malachi Edwin Vethamani, Malaysian writer and Emeritus Professor, University of Nottingham.

“The Best Asian Short Stories 2021, the latest in the annual TBASS series of anthologies, presents the Asian short story as a constantly evolving, innovative and vibrant mode of literary expression,” said the volume’s editor, Malachi Edwin Vethamani. “This collection brings together the work of twenty Asian writers and writers residing in Asia, namely from Canada, India, Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, Philippines, United Kingdom and United States of America. The broad theme for this collection is the new normal, revolving around the Covid-19 pandemic, with the inclusion of other stories set in the Asian region. The stories on the new normal theme explore how this world-wide pandemic has impinged on private lives and the public world.” 

Here is the list of selected authors whose stories have been selected for TBASS 2021:

Cyril Wong

Sudeep Sen

Elaine Chew

Danton Remoto

Ivy Ngeow

Bella Negi

Terence Toh

Roy Tristan B. Agustin

Bhaswati Gosh

Kiran Bhat

Christina Yin

Gankhu Sumnyan

Parvathi Nayar

Smita P Mukherjee

Susheela Menon

Andrew Innes

Vicky Chong

Donna Abraham Tijo

Namrata Singh

Jose Varghese

The event was hosted by Kitaab’s co-founder and Series Editor of TBASS, Zafar Anjum. “Year after year, the stories published in TBASS represent the human condition in fast-changing Asian societies, beautifully capturing the zeitgeist of our times by a talented bunch of writers,” he said. “It is very heartening to see how TBASS has gained visibility and recognition in the last few years as a credible platform for emerging writers from Asia or with Asian experiences. We can’t thank our readers, writers and editors enough for their continued support to make TBASS a successful series. We hope to continue with our humble efforts to take TBASS to as many readers as possible all across the globe.”

The new volume is expected to be released by early November this year.

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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