Publication news - September 2025

My stories have been published in Written Off #4, ZineWest 2025, and the anthology Every Family has a Story.

Island of the Old Shahbandar, Written Off #4, September 2025

My historical fiction story ‘Island of the Old Shahbandar’, set in 17th century Singapura and Malaya, is an epic tale of love, family, ambition, and betrayal – and full of ships and boats! I wrote this story as a counter-fiction to the narrative that Singapore was a ‘sleepy little fishing village’ before colonisation. It was not. It was home to a bustling port and a navy. This map shows the locations described in my story, published in Written Off Volume 4.

Historical map of ‘Island of the Old Shahbandar’, 17th century Singapura

Potage/Patronage, ZineWest, September 2025

I love this one. ‘Potage/Patronage’ is a satirical piece that gently skewers arts funding, cultural identity, and its entanglement in political discourse, and has been published in ZineWest 2025. This story also won the ZineWest Editors’ Award. Thank you to the editors and judges!

Cover of ZineWest 2025

Nothing to Forgive, Every Family has a Story, July 2025

 Ah, this story with that famous first line that makes people gasp: ‘This is the story of my grandfather, who was a real bastard.’ A true account of my grandfather, who was a crime lord and all-round scoundrel, who contacted my family after decades lost, and sought our forgiveness. My story ‘Nothing to Forgive’ was shortlisted in the 2024 EM Fletcher Writing Award, and has been published in this beautiful anthology ‘Every Family has a Story’.

Cover of ‘Every Family has a Story: Stories from the 2024 EM Fletcher Writing Competition