asianamlitfans | Jan. 4th, 2008

I was trolling for some online short stories to read and came across a few stories by Asian American writers at Blithe House Quarterly (a publication of queer writers).

Denise Uyehara's story "Marksmen" has one of the best opening paragraphs I've ever read:

When I was sixteen I watched my mother fire a gun. My boyfriend at the time took my family and me to a firing range in Riverside. Standing on a wooden walkway that looked like someone's front porch in the South, we shot Springfields and Colt 45s for two hours. After I finished, I put down my shotgun on the shelf, looked to my right, and noticed my mother firing a handgun. Her feet were planted firmly on the ground and she looked straight ahead with her arms outstretched, gripping a black revolver with both hands. She pulled the trigger at steady intervals--bang, bang, bang. I wondered what she was thinking: was she thinking of killing or protecting someone. Or had they become the same thing.

Brian Leung's story is dedicated to Iris Chang and titled "Shuhua's Story." And Sandip Roy's story is called "The View from the Bridge." Alexander Chee's is titled "During, Before, After." There may be more, but these were the names I recognized.