Writers’ collective Spittoon sets its lights on international literature
China’s international literary scene has felt somewhat diminished lately, with Qianmen’s Capital M restaurant packing up along with its acclaimed annual literary festival, and the Beijing Bookworm following suit in 2017 (though the latter returned, on a slightly smaller scale, earlier this year).
Determined to reverse this decline is a collective of young writers who publish Spittoon, a literary magazine, organizing events to help keep the capital’s literary lights aglow. TWOC spoke to poets Matthew Byrne and Simon Shieh, and music editor Michael Marshall, about these collaborative efforts.
What is Spittoon?
Matt: Spittoon has grown into an arts platform based in China with events in Beijing, Chengdu, and soon Shanghai. Spittoon made its first international move recently by beginning an events base in Gothenburg, Sweden. Spittoon publishes the Spittoon Literary Magazine and the CUE (China Urban Expression) comic book. We hope to bring creative people together in communities, and reflect an underground perspective to create a dialogue between our Chinese organization and Spittoon satellites that spring up.
Spiterary Ambitions is a story from our issue, “Curiosities and Quests.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine. Alternatively, you can purchase the digital version from the App Store.
Han Rubo is a contributing writer at The World of Chinese.
