Elsie Chapman
More diversity in our art, please.
More variety in our books, more colour in our characters, more of all the things that shape the voices and hearts of both.
Simply, more.
It’s no real secret that when it comes to Asian culture in books, much of what exists remains in the forms of stereotypes, tropes, clichés. Simply put, there aren’t enough Asian voices in publishing, and the viewpoint of a westernized lens often narrows rather than focuses.
In science fiction, we are strange geniuses, awkward nerds, small-statured guys in the back of the room who don’t stand a chance in the romance subplot.
In fantasy, we are ninjas, monks, kung-fu masters who aren’t allowed to articulate much beyond stoic, emotionless silence or short sound bites of deep, life-changing wisdom.
Yet, we’re getting somewhere.
This anthology, for one.
When Lucas and Derwin contacted me to ask if I’d be interested in writing the Introduction to Where The Stars Rise, I was both honoured and humbled. It was never a question of whether I would do it, but what I could say that could come close to encapsulating why, as a Chinese Canadian, so much about this anthology is a treasure.
Canadian publisher. Indie. Contributors who are either of Asian ethnicity or who have spent significant time living in Asia. A portion of sales going to Kids Help Phone, the long-standing Canadian counseling service that offers free assistance to kids and teens in need.
Most of all, that this anthology is a celebration of Asian diversity.
Where The Stars Rise is a collection of original Asian-themed stories, crafted from an Asian perspective and envisioned through Asian lenses, and from its first pages, we’re taken on journeys. We cross seas to learn of other lands, dive deep into others for the mysteries that lie below; we feel the strange chill of outer space on our skin, smell and taste the unfamiliar air of its new planets.
Two sisters struggle to survive in a society broken by war, natural disaster, and the sudden absence of technology.
A woman, reincarnated over and over again, discovers she can’t always outrun the past.
An orphaned child, raised to be a deadly soldier in an off-planet war, begins to question the meaning of blood.
Even beyond being Asian, the characters that fill this anthology are diverse within themselves.
Given stories of their own, they are no longer simply checked checkboxes or one-dimensional sidekicks in someone else’s narrative. They get to have layered backstories and messy, complicated families. Emotions run on a spectrum. Motives are clouded, questionable, as grey as storms.
Some characters are gay.
Some bend time.
Some are heroes.
But none are perfect, and this makes them infinitely more interesting—more honest, more real—than any stereotype.
As mirrors and windows of the diversity of Asian culture, they succeed. Their voices ring true. Embrace them as you read this collection of fresh, innovative stories. Follow where they lead you.
And don’t look back.
—Elsie Chapman, Tokyo, Japan, 2017
Author of Along The Indigo from Abrams/Amulet