M's literary resident Tash Aw on the spread of English novels in Asia

Malaysian writer Tash Aw is the recipient of the inaugural M Literary Residency Program in Shanghai. He’ll be speaking at the final weekend of the Shanghai International Literary Festival on March 21 at 2pm. 

We talked to Aw about his plans for his Shanghai residency, his third novel and Asian authors who write in English. 

CNNGo: Tell us about your next novel. Will it be set in Shanghai?

My next novel is still in its very early stages, so it's difficult to say with any certainty how much of it will be set in Shanghai, but I suspect that Shanghai will figure quite prominently in the novel. I wanted to write a novel about ambition and immigration in the 21st century, and to explore the changing nature of social demographics in Asia.

Whereas 30 years ago most Asians looked to the West, they now look to China. Everywhere I go in South East Asia, I see people wanting to move to China instead of Europe. Shanghai seems to me to be the New York of our time -- it symbolizes something very powerful in our imagination: a place where everything is possible.

CNNGo: What do you hope to achieve with your writers’ residency in Shanghai?

I already know Shanghai quite well, so all I hope to achieve is a healthy word count!

CNNGo: What types of people do you find interesting in today’s China? Who will inspire your characters?

The people I'm drawn to in today's China are the people who flock to the big cities in search of fortune, particularly those people from other countries. I'm interested in how China figures in foreigners' imaginations -- the illusions, stereotypes, but also how they think China has become the land of plenty.

CNNGo: What do you see as the future for Asian writers? Do you see a new generation of English-speaking writers emerging? 

Asian writers who write in English have undoubtedly been reshaping the landscape of the novel for the last 30 years. Much of this has come from India and its diaspora, but in the last ten years, we've begun to see East and Southeast Asian writers contributing to this evolution, and I certainly think that this trend will continue -- and that the English-language novel will be all the richer for it.

It's difficult to say exactly what the future will be though, but it'll certainly be exciting. If you look at writers like, say, Yiyun Li and Nam Le, it'll give you some clues as to the vibrancy and excitement of East Asian writing. And of course there are many fine writers writing in Chinese and other Asian languages, whose work is being increasingly translated in the West.

CNNGo: You’ve said that you see the Chinese market as being particularly receptive to your voice. Why is that?

Chinese readers are becoming more adventurous in their literary tastes, and are keen not just to learn about other countries and cultures, but to explore literary styles from outside China.

CNNGo: How has your knowledge of different cultures shaped your writing?

Having grown up between cultures has placed me in the role of the permanent outsider; I never feel as if I fully belong anywhere, but the advantage of that is that I am able to observe more keenly than other people, I think.