Mixed-race authors write fantasies with Asian and Middle Eastern heroes

Posted in Articles, Asian Diaspora, Media Archive on 2017-07-11 01:36Z by Steven

Mixed-race authors write fantasies with Asian and Middle Eastern heroes

The Straits Times
Singapore
2017-07-10

Olivia Ho


Roshani Chokshi was shortlisted in February for a Nebula award for The Star-Touched Queen (2016), which is steeped in Hindu mythology and folklore. PHOTO: AMAN SHARMA

Authors Roshani Chokshi and Renee Ahdieh struggled to identify with the white protagonists of books they read growing up and have written stories that draw on their heritage

Young adult authors from mixed- race backgrounds are making their mark with fantasy worlds that draw not on European fairy tales or Greek myth, but on Sanskrit epic or samurai lore, and where the heroines are not blonde or blue-eyed but Asian or Middle Eastern.

Among these is best-selling Scottish-Korean-American author Renee Ahdieh, who drew on the Arabian Nights and her husband’s Persian roots for the Scheherazade-inspired novel The Wrath And The Dawn (2015) and its sequel The Rose And The Dagger (2016). She is exploring feudal Japan in her new novel Flame In The Mist.

Writer Roshani Chokshi, an American of Indian-Filipino descent, was shortlisted in February for a Nebula award for The Star-Touched Queen (2016), which is steeped in Hindu mythology and folklore…

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Identity for mixed-race kids? ‘Eurasian’ already exists

Posted in Articles, Asian Diaspora, Media Archive, Oceania, Social Science on 2013-03-30 18:41Z by Steven

Identity for mixed-race kids? ‘Eurasian’ already exists

The Straits Times
Singapore
Forum Letters
2013-03-30

Michael Ang York Poon

I am baffled by Mr Peter Wadeley’s letter (“S’porean identity must include mixed-race kids“; March 16).

What he is calling for already exists – that is, Eurasians, who are one of Singapore’s four main racial groups.

In the first four decades of Singapore’s independence, immigration was not as common as it is now, and the number of migrants relatively insignificant. Hence, it would have been absurd to even wonder if Eurasian youngsters were non-native…

Read the entire letter here.

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S’porean identity must include mixed-race kids

Posted in Asian Diaspora, Identity Development/Psychology, Media Archive, Politics/Public Policy, Social Science on 2013-03-30 17:05Z by Steven

S’porean identity must include mixed-race kids

The Straits Times
Singapore
Forum Letters
2013-03-16

Peter Wadeley

MRS MARIETTA Koh Ai-meng (“Citizens have every right to expect privileges”; last Saturday) claims that rising consciousness of what it means to be Singaporean should not be decried as chauvinistic or jingoistic.

Last year, former president S R Nathan said that a clear Singaporean identity has yet to develop (“Building a S’porean culture takes time, says ex-president”; March 18, 2012).

Whenever such an identity is formed, it must be broad enough to include all Singaporeans, without distinction of race.

My children are Singaporean, have lived here their whole lives, and speak Singlish and Chinese. Most importantly, they identify themselves as Singaporean.

But as they are “only” half Chinese and look different from other children, they are, regrettably, treated accordingly…

Read the entire letter here.

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