Lantern Review - Issue 1

Lantern Review: A Journal of Asian American Poetry provides a virtual space in which to promote and discuss the work of contemporary Asian American poets and artists, and seeks to publish expertly crafted work in a variety of forms and aesthetics, including traditional and experimental pieces, hybrid forms, multimedia work, and new translations. Lantern Review welcomes pieces from anglophone writers of all ethnic backgrounds whose work has a vested interest in issues relevant to the Asian diaspora in North America, as well as work created collaboratively in a community context.

Issue 1 of Lantern Review features poems by Angela Veronica Wong, Changming Yuan, Melissa Roxas, Frances Won, Vuong Quoc Vu, Ocean Vuong, Kevin Minh Allen, Maria T. Allocco, Jon Pineda, Subhashini Kaligotla, Eileen R. Tabios, Rachelle Cruz, Sankar Roy, Vanni Taing, Asterio Enrico N. Gutierrez, Jai Arun Ravine, Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé, Henry W. Leung, Luisa A. Igloria, & Barbara Jane Reyes; translations by Hsiao-Shih (Raechel) Lee visual art by Rebecca Y.M. Cheung, Ray Craig, Elaine Wang, and Steve Wing, and includes a special feature showcasing work created by members of the Kundiman community, as well as a book review of Sun Yung Shin's Skirt Full of Black, contributed by Craig Santos Perez.

About Lantern Review
Lantern Review was founded in 2009 by Iris A. Law & Mia Ayumi Malhotra, two college friends who had gone on to pursue graduate creative writing programs in different parts of the US. Lantern Review in online-only, and consists of an electronic journal and a blog.
We chose a lantern as our emblem because lanterns are cross-cultural symbols of beauty, hope, and enlightenment, have historically been a feature of community celebrations, and are also linked with exploration, discovery, and the forging of new paths. We hope that our name reflects our dual desires to shed light on the complex nature of Asian American poetry and to be a stage on which the question, “What is contemporary Asian American poetry and where is it headed?” can be played out.

Lantern Review Issue 1
90 pages, online issue

related links: first issues of new lit journals, east / west