Memoir | Personal Stories

AWC Directory

Newsletters are alphabetised by publication name. Featured post is chosen by listed writer as best representative of their publication. Listing here does not indicate endorsement by Asian Writers’ Collective.

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44 Revolutions by

Ramya Vivekanandan

- 44 Revolutions is a space where I share the words, places, art, food, music, discourse and ideas that inspire me or give me pause. And poetry. Because poetry is always a good idea!

April 2024

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abhinav’s substack by

abhinav

- A space for poetry and personal reflections, where I explore life’s intricacies through conversational essays. Each piece is a journey—sometimes introspective, sometimes playful, but always honest and heartfelt.

discovering myself in my 20s

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About Everything and Nothing by

Nidhi Arora

- Loves telling stories where nothing happens.

Decoding rejections

Nidhi’s debut fiction novel is coming out in June 2025!

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Ayush’s Substack by

Ayush

- I write personal essays that will include history, culture, travel, food and occasionally politics. I am interested in how our past informs our present and try to keep an eye out for it during my travels.

Parakeets

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Body Memoir by

Coke Tani

- Coming Through: Building a Body Memoir is part description of gathering strength to finally cast my voice out into the world, and actual working excerpts from my book project.

Welcome to Coming Through: Building a Body Memoir

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Bombaywalli in Wellington by

Sai Raje

- I write about life and living in India and Aotearoa New Zealand.

Women, dreams and the patriarchy

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for the life of me by

jack cuison

- Here I post randomly about my life, experiences, thoughts, writing, and literally anything that comes to mind as I try to navigate the fascinating phenomenon known as life.

what is this place??

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From the Heart to Beyond by

Ruhie Vaidya

- A place to reflect on moments that touch my heart. Sharing my mission to live fully & make the most of the time we are given. Inspired by personal experience caring for and losing my Dad to terminal illness + daily life as a mum, doctor & writer.

Rethinking how we support others through grief

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handful of shadow by

Cat

- Memoir, personal writing, and journals of a semi-fictionalised woman with a feline name. Born and raised in Hong Kong, based in England. I write about leaving home, coming of age, being intimate with strangers, love and friendship.

Good girls

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In-Between Lines by Samira - I write to make sense of my world and to better understand who I am. I write to share the intimate world of ordinary people living extraordinary lives. And in the end I write to find connections in stories that we all live collectively.

The White Wolf

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is this what you want? by christa- The current iteration focuses on disabilities, advocacy, death work, community care, relationships, and intimacy.

on escaping the cabaret

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leap years by

raymond

- on living and growing with intentionality in our 20s.

my five year plans

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lightwaves by

Caroline Young

- Rediscovering my joy | Musings on books, music, art, video games, fashion, & whatever else tickles my brain.

no. 2 // i don't sleep well at night but i wake up at 6:30 am

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Many Possibilities by

Nitya Kumar

- Essays on the human condition, culture, and memoir-like reflections. Travelogues from my frequent backpacking adventures, and free-verse poetry.

Constantly performing

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Mo’s Magazine by

Mohika Mudgal

- a heart to heart about the messy human life, things worth knowing about slow fashion, family businesses, poems & ponderings.

When you start feeling shifts in your inner being

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Not The Wife Material by

Not The Wife Material

- I aspire to be a writer by day, by night and by every moment of my life. A journalist in the past, I have now zeroed down on the fact that writing for ‘nirmal anand’ (pure joy) is my true (and only) calling.

Not The Wife Material

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Notes from the Town Hermit by

Tiffany Chu

- A Fellowship for the over-thinkers and deep-feelers looking for writing that makes you feel seen.

Home in the Spaces Between

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Notes From Your Shadow by

AB

- I write short essays and personal memoirs. The themes range from psychoanalysis, abstract romanticism, identity, self exploration, immigrant identity, grief and loss.

RUDRA: I am a woman now

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Nōto by

Erika Tovi

- Essays for the heart punctuated with notes on life, nature, and creativity.

Chronic illness isn't a weed from one's imagination

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Random thoughts on Leading, Learning and Running & Life by

Ajay Kelkar

- This is about how I have lived & learned for over 30 years.It is also about what the outdoors has taught me. How Running changed me & how Life is about Re Learning & learning.

What’s “In syllabus” & What’s out?

Ajay Kelkar is also a leadership coach who runs, cycles, and treks! He works with individuals who possess a growth mindset and want to tackle personal transitions in life. His coaching helps senior leaders find a pattern in the random business world and can be found through LinkedIn.

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Newsletter by

Sanobar Sabah

- As a neurodivergent, third-culture South Asian Muslim woman, I write about everything they don’t want us to speak about. Writing is me taking up space. I've discovered that writing about my hurt oddly and magically makes room for my joys!

Calm Down, Woman!

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Say the Thing by

Janine Lim

- Say the Thing began as a freeform newsletter where I shared my creative process and wrote about all the things that needed saying during the pandemic. After the passing of my daughter, this has become a space for me write through my grief and share this process with others.

A Good Enough Home

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Souled by

Souled * Marian

- Born and raised in the Philippines and currently based in Europe. Her inspirations, reflections, and learnings are based on 10 years of humanitarian/development work in Asia. She started writing to make sense of her spirituality, including what it means to break free from identity, definition, border, and history.

Organic data, algorithms, and universal truths

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Spilled Ink by

Sanket

- Spilled Ink is a treatise of how I see the life and death around me.

Boys don't cry

Sanket also has a published poetry chapbook you can get from here!

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Spilling the Tea by

Natasha Sondakh

- multi-hyphenate coffee drinker natasha sondakh spills the tea on what it's like to be a twenty-something with a lot of feelings... featuring candid ramblings about culture, lifestyle, and growing up.

on the serial hobbyist syndrome

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Splash by

nikhil

- A personal newsletter that I've been writing since 2017. I write about my life, technology, creativity, and art. It's been one of the most meaningful parts of my life over the last few years.

we live in a house made of each other

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Supriya’s Substack by

Supriya Devarajan

- I write about my life's experiences- a peripatetic childhood and personal tragedies unleashed the hidden writer in me.

The Glasses He Left Behind

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Talkingcat88 by

Sharon Hom

- Trying to stay hopeful in a burning world, I write about what I love (cats, dogs, sci-fi, film), mostly short memoir pieces and poetry. Editor and contributor, Chinese Women Traversing Diaspora: Memoirs, Essays, and Poetry (1999, 2000, Routledge); Co-editor with Stacy Mosher, Challenging China: Struggle and Hope in an Era of Change (2008, The New Press); Co-editor with Xin Chunying, English/Chinese Lexicon of Women and Law (1995, CTPC and UNESCO).

A Dream of Mothers

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A Tangerine Moon by

Suyin Tan

- A Singapore-born writer's lyrical field notes from my journey of shifting self-identities (as I transition from international lawyer in London to creative in Portugal) and navigating multiple uprootings across continents, all in search of self, home, belonging, and meaning. I share my stories through personal, travel, and photo essays, poetry, flash autofiction / memoir, and poetic reviews of global literature, art, film, and culture.

If Loneliness Was A Flower: On Self-Integrity and the Art of Personal Tradition

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To Stand and Stare by

Roshni

- A lot of life feels like cows head-butting us. It startles, surprises, plays, hurts and leaves some scars. Much of the writing on this Substack is about the strange things regular cows do and how we remember it. It is an outlet for the curious knicks and knacks I find or create in the process.

Home and roam are rhyming words

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The Anecdotist by

Harry

- Welcome to The Anecdotist and thank you for stopping by. Here I delve into the realms of fiction writing and introspective musings. I hope you enjoy reading my posts and let me know what you think in your comments.

Wheels of Wanderlust

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The Story of your Voice by

The Story of Your Voice

- Sharing my thoughts, insights, wisdom, and observations through the art of storytelling.

The Root of Connection

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The Trial Memoirist by

Sha Kepli

- Writings on writing, memoir, mothering, and sometimes fiction.

A Memoirist's Tapestry

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The Twenties Girl by

Tania

- Storyteller navigating the peaks and troughs of life, sharing fortnightly essays on the mundane, the absurd, and everything in between. Here to offer a moment of respite and connection in a chaotic world.

I’m really glad I fought that day, and doubly pleased that I won.

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The Unexpected Shape by

Esmé Weijun Wang

- The Unexpected Shape is a newsletter, podcast, & community for thoughtful softies. Every week, I send inspiration for ambitious people living with limitations, such as chronic illness, caretaking responsibilities, and/or disability. Find Esmé’s books here and other things like The Unexpected Shape Writing Academy here.

Dear Friend, From My Life I Write to You in Your Life

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Vertigo by

Bharti

- I write about ordinary experiences, little memories and childhood nostalgia that never seems to leave.

"Of Sarees and Sisyphus: Unraveling the Tapestry of My Mother's Life

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writing of wenyi xue by

wenyi xue

- Wenyi Xue writes about identity, grief, and everything in between through extensive metaphors.

untruthful elegy

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A Year Without Water by

Sam

- Coming of age while Chinese and gay: essays on formative experiences, told through the lens of a breakup’s aftermath.

Three.