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EDITOR: Sharon Lim-Hing
PUBLISHER: Sister Vision Press
LANGUAGE: English
DATE: 1998
PAGES: 467
ISBN: 0920813976

The Very Inside: An Anthology of Writings by Asian & Pacific Islander Lesbian and Bisexual Women

edited by Sharon Lim-Hing

The Very Inside is the first major collection of imaginative and provocative essays, interviews, poetry and prose by Asian and Pacific Islander lesbian and bisexual women. The contributors to this comprehensive work originate from or identify their heritage in Asia — from South Asia to Southeast Asia (including Cambodia, Veitnam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines) to East Asia.

The Very Inside will immerse and entertain the reader with its originality. The array of visions and voices are challenging, tender, intellectual, passionate, exploratory and erotic. It is a priceless anthology in which the voices are immediate, but the concerns timeless.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction by Sharon Lim-Hing
ORIGINS, DEPARTURES
- Shrapnel Shards on Blue Water by Lê Thị Diễm Thúy
- The Polite Question by Svati Shah
- New Mexico Asian Pacific Lesbian by Tze-Hei Yong
- I Am a Story by Ami R. Mattison
- Manahambre Road by Shani Mootoo
- Re-Entry by Lisa Kahaleole Chang Hall
- Who Am I? by Anu
- 24 Frames by Jacquelyn Ching Black
- Scorched by Willy♀ Chang Snow Wilkinson
- White Rice: Searching for Identity by Juliana Pegues/Pei Lu Fung
- 2632 Then and Now by C. Allyson Lee
- Who Am I? by Peou Lakhana
- Heart Murmur by Mi Ok Song Bruining
- Ancestor by Teresa Tang
- Owed to Grandmother by C. Allyson Lee
- What is Between Us? by Teresa Tan
- For Naan by Shani Mootoo
- Putih by V. K Aruna
- True Confessions of a Queer Banana by Midi Onodera
- Lost Pictures by Sharon Lim-Hing
FINDING/FOUNDING COMMUNITY
- Family Reunion: The Longing by Elsa E’der
- A Recognition by Shani Mootoo
- An Asian Pacific Lesbian’s Alphabet by Alice Y. Hom
- Slowly, But Surely, My Search for Family Acceptance and Community Continues by Susan Y. F. Chen
- Tita Talk by Zelie Duvauchelle, J. Kehaulani Kauanui, Leolani M., and Desiree Thompson
- All At Once, All Together by Ann Yuri Uyeda
- Lunch Vignettes by Svati Shah
- Something We Both Know by Svati Shah
- distractions by Vanessa Marzan Deza
- We Three, X, Y, and Z by Rini Das
- Solitary Bravo by Darlena Bird Jimenes
- Gold Gate (Gam Moen) by Brenda Joy Lem
- Rice Dreams by Linda Fong
- My Mother’s Mother by Amy A. Zukeran
- Anita and Auntie by Kitty Tsui
- A Chinese Banquet by Kitty Tsui
- The Phi Neah Yeung The…? (The Only Two of Us…?) by Peou Lakhana
- A Letter to Female Homosexuals by Patrice Leung
WAKING FROM A DREAM OF LOVE
- AT&T by Aruna
- Yoo Hoo by Susan Ito
- this hunger in my hips by Vanessa Marzan Deza
- Making Love to You by Little Earthquake
- the very inside by Indigo Chih-Lien Som
- Summer, Manhattan, 1991 by Minal Hajratwala
- Jeannie by Mina Kumar
- Forsee by Le Thi Diem Thuy
- Island Dreams by Ana Bantigue Fajardo
- warm weather thoughts by Vanessa Marzan Deza
- Brewing Secrets by Minal Hajratwala
- Misplacing Alissa by Ami R. Mattison
- Amita and Vinita by Ka Yin Fong
- Dusk and Dawn by Neesha Dosanjh
- in my sleep by Indigo Chih Lien Som
- Enchanting Forest by Brenda Joy Lem
- Love Poem by Little Earthquake
- Letter fro Bali by Naomi Guilbert
- Untitled by Linda C Parece
- When My Love Lay Sleeping… by Suniti Namjoshi
- Swirling Tales,and the Concept of Tea by Lisa Asagi
- Stork Cools Wings by Mona Oikawa
- Rati by Little Earthqauake
- Ode to a Fierce Butch by Lani Ka’ahumanu
- Akairo (The Color Red) by Tomiye Ishida
- Just once before I die I want someone to make love to me in Cantonese by Indigo Chih-Lien Som
- Your Love Has Undone Me by Nila Gupta
LIFE STRUGGLE
- A Litany for Our Survival by Vanessa Marzan Deza
- Identification Card by Nila Gupta
- In the Mind of An/Other by Alice Y. Hom
- internalization by Indigo Chih-Lien Som
- Ashes by Lisa Kahaleole Chang Hall
- Suddenly, You Realize by Margaret Mihee Choe
- Often It Is a Stilted Ey Which Contains One Woman’s Love for Another by Heidi Li
- A Visit Home by Heidi Li
- Olelo Kupuna O Hapa Kanaka Maoli Wabine by J. Kehaulani Kauanui
- Little Girl Blue by Neesha Dosanjh
- Invitation by Canyon Sam
- December 1989 by Patrice Leung
- Who Will Remember Me When I Return to America by Elsa E’der
- Custody by Lynne Yamaguchi Fletcher
- Recurring Dreams by Lynne Yamaguchi Fletcher
- Butterflies by Lihbin Shiao
- Recipe by C. Allyson Lee
OUT OF FIRE, GRACE
- Yellow Woman Speaks by Merle Woo
- Oh Canada by Nila Gupta
- Mini Liu, Long-time Activist by Linda Wong
- Love Letters From the Movement by Ann Yuri Uyeda
- Debi Ray-Chaudburi: Working toward a new language by Joyoti Grech
- Leolani M.,Native Hawaiian Islander by Joyoti Grech
- The Myth of One Closet by V.K. Aruna
- “Asian Pacific Islander:” Issues of Representation and Responsibility by J Kehaulani Kauanui and Ju Hui “Judy” Han
- In Search of a More Complete Definition of Activism by Eveline Shen
- The Challenges Facing Asian and Pacific Islander Lesbian and Bisexual Women in the U.S. by Trinity A. Ordona
- Cross-Racial Hostility and Inter-Racial Conflict by Trinity A. Ordona
- Response to “Room of One’s Own” by Anu
- Untitled by Sharon Fernandez
- Representations of Indian Lesbianism by Mina Kumar
- The Politics of Breast Cancer by Merle Woo
- I Like Beef Wit’ Words by Donna Tsuyako Tanigawa
- Untitled by Anuja Mendiratta
- Hapa Haole Wahine by Lani Ka’ahumanu
Contributors’ Notes