Welcome to SBWN’s new Co-director, Sean Wai Keung!

SBWN:What made you want to join us as a Co-Director?

Sean Wai Keung: I’ve been lucky enough to have been a member of the Network’s community for seven or so years now. Without their support I wouldn’t be where I am today as a writer, and through them I’ve made connections and friendships which I cherish deeply. At the same time I’m also aware of the particular challenges that face creative organisations in Scotland right now, nevermind creative people and especially creatives from marginalised backgrounds. I’ve always admired the Network’s intersectional values and I knew that working with them would mean working towards a common goal of trying to create more opportunities not just for current writers of colour here but also to help make creative writing and literary wellbeing more accessible to any and all BIPOC communities throughout Scotland. The opportunity to be a Co-Director with them and to be part of a team with a shared understanding of this therefore feels very precious and I’m very much looking forward to the hard work of making it all happen!

SBWN: What is your vision for SBWN now and beyond?

SWK: I would like the Network to grow as a resource hub for writers at different stages of their practice, continuing and expanding the kinds of accessible writing workshops we can offer but also hosting information on things like how-to-get-published, navigating self-employment as a writer, the wider tax system and practical skills such as how to run your own workshop, how to build confidence and mental wellbeing. Longer term, I’d love to be able to offer grants and financial support to writers in the Network with their own projects in their own local communities, and also I’d love to continue to advocate for writers of colour when it comes to things like the wider publishing industry, fair pay and the importance of including marginalised voices in discussions around the climate crisis and Generative AI use.

SBWN: In your view, what is the biggest challenge BIPOC writers face right now and how can SBWN support them?

SWK: As writers here we all live within the wider political landscape, on both a national and international level, and this landscape can at times feel uncertain, unwelcoming and unsafe. I believe that the best writing, by which I mean the most fulfilling to both writer and reader, comes from a place of feeling free to express ourselves, and yet for so many folk that is not an easy thing. As such, the most important support SBWN can provide is space and time for people to access community and opportunity in order to work on their practice in whatever way is most helpful for them, and to feel supported within their development no matter where they are in their literary lives.

SBWN: How many browser tabs do you usually have open at once?

SWK: On my laptop I actually only have two right now! I try really hard to make sure my desktop and browsers are as clean and uncluttered as possible when I’m working, as if I don’t then I become too overwhelmed! On the other hand, opening my phone browser just now shows that I currently have 53 tabs open there, including most recently a recipe for Indonesian dessert bubur sum sum, which I’m desperate to try, and a general search for the word ‘recommend’, which is one of those words where every time I type it I need to look up how many c’s and m’s are in it.

SBWN: What was the last really good book you read?

SWK: Beyond Belonging by David Kam 甘家伟, Amy Phung 馮金薇 and Mai-Anh Vũ Peterson, from Sage Publications. It’s the first book I’ve read that specifically examines the intersected histories and communities that make up East and Southeast Asian identity throughout the UK. It’s a powerful book which contributes to a conversation that often feels difficult to access in a nuanced and detailed way, and I hope it helps those conversations to happen more. I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

SBWN: Are you working on any exciting creative projects you can share?

SWK: More poetry, more performance, more research. My second collection of poems is finally at a stage where I’m fairly happy with it and meanwhile I continue to explore different types of live performance which mixes creative hospitality with spoken word and food.

SBWN: Finally, what does the SBWN community mean to you?

SWK: The community means opportunity and potential, gratitude and resilience, career and friendship, hope and warmth. I want it to continue to mean all those things.