We are pleased to announce that our anthology, Currents, is live! When we transitioned from a physical quarterly magazine to a digital format, we felt that it was important to stay true to our roots in print. Nothing can quite replace the look and feel of printed words on paper. They have a presence that digital media can never quite replicate, and that is why Currents has been a rewarding and important project. In these pages we feature 25 selections that capture the spectrum of contemporary Asian Canadian writing through fresh and exciting voices.
Last year saw the launch of the Alliterasian anthology, which celebrated the best of Ricepaper’s twenty years of history. We have come a long way since starting out, but it still remains clear that the magazine was steeped in the energy and passion of a generation that recognized and celebrated their heritage as Asian Canadians, and how they were products of two continents. But times change, and Currents reflects the nuances of Canada at 150. In addition to asking questions about who we are, we also look to the future of limitless possibilities and diverse new voices from the Pacific Rim and beyond. Released as part of this year’s LiterASIAN festival — which saw the arrival of distinguished writers like Jen Sookfong Lee, Terry Watada and the announcement of our own Karla Comanda as the winner of the Jim Wong-Chu Emerging Writers Award — Currents was part of a celebration that highlighted the fact that we minority writers have our stories to tell. This sense of community and solidarity is important to us as we embark on a process of renewal, and we want to make it clear that we could not have done it without you.
You believed in us and generously supported our efforts to return to print. It is because of you that we continue to be able to tell stories which reinvent and blur the boundaries that define who we are as writers and activists. You have given us the responsibility to serve as literary gatekeepers for the community as we look beyond traditional geographical boundaries. We thus promise to continue to publish more stories, poems, non-fiction, and reportage.
Here’s to the next twenty years. Thank you.
Contributors
Aaron Tang Aileen Santos Anna Wang Yuan Benjamin Hertwig Carousel Calvo Céline Chuang
Cheonhak Kwon John Mokrynskyj (Translator) Hana Kim (Trans.) Do Nguyen Mai Dung Kai-cheung
Nick Stember (Trans.) Hannah Polinski Emi Kodama Frances Du Helen Tran Jane Aiko Komori
Jasmine Gui JF Garrard Joanne Leow Kawai Shen Li Charmaine Anne Linda Nguyen Lisa Zhang
Mary Chen Raine Ling Stanford Cheung Zeng Xiaowen Alison Bailey (Trans.)
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Editors
Karla Comanda Leila Lee William Tham
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Kickstarter Backers
Kane Tan Matthew Stepanic Roland Tanglao Wanda Yee Val Lem Vanessa Lowe
Saki Serizawa Anna Wang Annick MacAskill Christine Wu Carmen Tiampo Gavin Hee
Lauren Dembicky Peggy Thompson KS Dawn Chow Floyd Sully Xu Xi Imogene Lim
Susan Pieters John Matsui Sylvia Tran Ellen Matsui Gary Yee Andrea Ocampo
Kristen Wong Chelsea Rooney Raymond Nakamura Janet Lumb Jennifer Pham Brendon Soltis
James Kim Doretta Lau Anonymous Linda Point Jason Li Sennah Yee Caiming Ysng
Guillaume Morissette Walter Quan Wiley Ho June Chow Louis Lapprend M Moore
Cecilia Yuan Liu Jessica Purver Helen Koyama Linda Lum Kaitlyn Tsuruda Vincent Ternida
Hailey Mah Jonathan Lin Rudy Thauberger Helen Tran Lori Leong Melissa Roach
Jake Byrne Caroline Teng Alice Poon David Ng Edwin Lee Anita Chong Elyse Bouvier
Regina Abby Ho Stephanie Oliver George Kerrie Seljak-Byrne Tamara Jong
Michael Beck Mikayla Fawcett Minghui Yu