East Side Voices

East Side Voices is a cultural platform that celebrates British East and Southeast Asian talent. Founded in February 2020 by the Harper’s Bazaar editor Helena Lee, it began as a monthly salon at London’s Standard Hotel, with an aim to amplify the stories of the diaspora. The book of the same name is a first-of-its-kind anthology that collects essays, poetry and memoir by 18 extraordinary writers, that invites us to explore a dazzling spectrum of experience – from the frontlines of the NHS in the midst of the Covid pandemic to the set of a Harry Potter film, from a bustling London restaurant to a spirit festival in Myanmar. In the process, we navigate the legacies of family history, racial identity, assimilation and difference.