Southeast Asian Women in the Diaspora: Troubling Borders

One of the really interesting projects on Kickstarter this season that I feel could really use some support is Southeast Asian Women in the Diaspora: Troubling Borders in Literature and Art

This is a groundbreaking anthology of poems, essays and artworks by Southeast Asian women, and features work by women of Cambodian, Laotian, Vietnamese, Thailand, Indonesia, Burma/Myanmar, the Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei or East Timor descent, and minority groups such as the ethnic Chinese and Indians in Southeast Asia, and the often stateless Mien, Hmong, and Cham in many regions of the world.

They need to raise $20,000 but sought $2,000 with this Kickstarter program. They're halfway there from other fundraising efforts I've heard about, but could use help making it to the last $10,000 they need to really make this the book it could be.

As a writer and continuing our discussion of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, I applaud the creation of such books but I also wish that our community had a robust love of the arts that would make it viable for these women to regularly have their own exhibits and books committed to a rigorous examination of their work and where it fits within the context of art in their communities and world art. I hope a book like this can help pave the way for this within the next ten years.