Literary magazines don’t make money. If anything, they lose money. Most are subsidized by free labor, and almost all require donations of some kind.
So why would Hong Kong - the world capital of capitalism - need one of these?
Since closing our first submissions window at midnight on May 1, we have seen exactly why: because there is so much more to show off. We committed to publishing five exceptional pieces in each issue. We received far more excellent work than that.
It has also been enlightening to find out just how many connections there are between Hong Kong and the rest of the world.
The stories, essays, poetry, and novel excerpts that we received include protagonists from Hong Kong, temporary visitors to Hong Kong, simple references to Hong Kong’s food or natural features, and (yes!) businesspeople setting up international headquarters here - with branches everywhere from Mongolia to Mauritius.
The artwork and photography includes not only typical Hong Kong urban scenes, but also beautiful wildlife shots, intimate portraits of individuals, and inwardly-focused, abstract works.
These deserve to be seen. Hong Kong clearly has more to offer than an unbridled lust for business.
We hope you are looking forward to the appearance of our first issue as much as we are!