The poems that Alvin and Miriam have curated for this issue—which they describe as a ‘layering of perspectives... in counterpoint’ and a ‘clutch of sea-gifts’—explore and magnify, through myriad voices and frames, new possibilities for perceiving and understanding ‘Asia.’

In late 2020, I casually asked Alvin Pang—newly graduated with a PhD in Creative Writing—if he might now have the time and willingness to guest edit the poetry for an issue of Rabbit. Based in Singapore, Alvin would be our first international poetry editor. He wrote back immediately to accept, and proposed ‘Asia’ as the theme. I shouldn’t have been surprised by this proposal—such an ambitious theme captured something of Alvin’s general approach to poetry: wide-ranging, provocative and generous. Asia-as-theme is a conundrum, irreducible and boundary-less as a poem itself.

Stretching editorial lines across oceans, we asked Miriam Wei Wei Lo (based in Western Australia) if she might be interested in co-editing the poems. I had not met Miriam in person but was familiar with Against Certain Capture (Five Islands Press, 2004), her wonderful book of biographical ‘nonfiction’ poems about her two grandmothers, Yue Xian and Eva, linked across continents by the marriage of their respective children (a second edition was released earlier this year through Apothecary Archive). Miriam happily agreed to come on board.

During the selection process, I witnessed the meticulous notes of two spirited thinkers—Miriam and Alvin—engaging with every poem (and there were many!), debating the merits of a line, considering the productive tensions between poems, not shying away from sticky points. Their thoughtful transactions highlighted, to me, a genuine respect for poetic language and craft—how a poem has the ability to stir, delight, challenge, trouble, question. But they also emphasised the power of a poem to bring minds together—not only poet and reader, but reading communities—to contemplate challenging ideas. Presenting their poetry editorial as a ‘conversation’, the guest editors open-heartedly share their own experiences of, relationships to and negotiations through ‘Asia’ and ‘Asian-ness’, and suggest how poems can play a part in honouring that complexity. I am reminded of Jane Hirshfield’s words, opening her essay collection Ten Windows: How Great Poems Transform the World: ‘Poetry’s work is not simply the recording of inner or outer perception; it makes by words and music new possibilities of perceiving.’ The poems that Alvin and Miriam have curated for this issue—which they describe as a ‘layering of perspectives... in counterpoint’ and a ‘clutch of sea-gifts’—explore and magnify, through myriad voices and frames, new possibilities for perceiving and understanding ‘Asia.’

I am also delighted by an additional provocation set by the guest editors, who devised a particularly tricky ‘rabbit question’ for all potential contributors to answer as part of the submission process: ‘What poetry or poem connects you to/with Asia?’ When it came time to compile these answers for the ‘Ask a Rabbit’ section (printed in the back pages), I was thrilled to see so many carefully considered responses, as contributors openly ponder and/or are troubled by the definition or boundary-lines around the word ‘Asia’, by the nature of ‘connection/connecting’ and by the act of wrangling a simple response. ‘Ask a Rabbit’ not only offers a rich reading list, but also continues the poems’ work of refracting and refusing neat containment lines.

Thank you, Alvin and Miriam, for your time and energy on this issue— it has been a pleasure working with you (a relationship I look forward to continuing in welcoming you both to the Rabbit Advisory Board). I would also like to thank all our sub-editors and, of course, the contributors for their poems (including the First Nations contributors to another special section curated by Jeanine Leane), interviews and other writing. Thanks also to Singapore-based poet Yeow Kai Chai for providing our readers with a homework exercise, and to Sydney-based artist Abdul Abdullah for adorning our pages with his stunning artworks.