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VARSHA UPRAITY is a Nepali writer and researcher, currently based in Kathmandu. She writes poems and narrative fiction and has academic interests in the relationship between gender and resilience in the aftermath of traumatic phenomenon. She is currently working on two independent projects; a collection of short stories revolving around the experiences of women in contemporary Kathmandu, and a novel that tells the story of a man who disappears and the impact of this event on seven people who know him.

STEVEN SCHWANKERT’s book project is to solve the mystery of one of China’s forgotten maritime disasters; one that claimed more lives than the Titanic and that is unexplained to this day, more than 70 years later. It’s the story of one of the world’s great shipwrecks, the victims of which could have been observed boarding and setting off from where M on the Bund and M Glam now stand.

Juliet is a classical singer and Chinese music specialist. She will use her time in Shanghai to complete the manuscript of the upcoming release, SINGING IN MANDARIN, the next edition in the ‘Singing in’ Vocal Diction Series for the American publisher Rowman and Littlefield. The M Literary Residency will allow Juliet close collaboration with her co-writer Katherine Chu, who is based in Suzhou, and give her access to the resources unique to the classical vocal music scene in Shanghai and China.

Raised in small towns in the west, Maxim Loskutoff is the critically acclaimed author of RUTHIE FEAR and COME WEST AND SEE, an NPR and Amazon Best Book of 2018, a New York Times Editor’s Pick, and winner of the High Plains Book Award. His stories and essays have appeared in numerous periodicals, including the New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Ploughshares, and GQ. He lives in the Rocky Mountains of western Montana.

“I finished and sold my first book, Come West and See, during my time in India as an M Literary Resident. The culture and place allowed me to see my home in Montana in an entirely new way, and evenings spent discussing writing with authors from all over the world brought the book into focus for the first time. I carry the experiences I had there, and the brilliant writers and writing I was exposed to, with me in all of my work.”

Glenn Diaz’s first book The Quiet Ones (Ateneo Press) won the Palanca Grand Prize and the Philippine National Book Award. His second novel “Yñiga” was shortlisted for the 2020 Novel Prize. Born and raised in Manila, he is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Adelaide in South Australia.

“The M Literary Residency was my first residency. Being uprooted from my life in Manila to spend ten weeks in Bangalore in constant conversation with other writers not only allowed me to fortify and fine-tune my ideas for my work-in-progress, it also deepened my understanding of what it means to pursue a life of writing. I carry these conversations and ideas with me today, seven years hence.”

Jeremy Tiang is the author of a short story collection, It Never Rains on National Day, and a novel, State of Emergency, which won the Singapore Literature Prize in 2018. His translations from Chinese include novels by Yeng Pway Ngon, Yan Ge, Chan Ho-Kei, Zhang Yueran, Su Wei-Chen, Yan Geling and Li Er. He also writes and translates plays, including work by Chen Si’an, Wei Yu-Chia and Zhan Jie. He lives in Flushing, Queens.

“Being able to spend a substantial period of time in Shanghai and getting to know the city allowed me to deepen the sense of place in my novel-in-progress. The M Residency provided enough support that I hit the ground running, while also giving me the space and time I needed to write and explore.”

We are thrilled to announce the 2018-2019 winner of the M Literary Residency, Jeremy Tiang!

M LITERARY RESIDENCY RECIPIENTS 2018-2019

Shanghai, March 16, 2018 – M Restaurant Group is thrilled to announce the winner of the 2018 M Literary Residency. Jeremy Tiang has been chosen for the residency in Shanghai.

Jeremy Tiang is the author of State of Emergency and It Never Rains on National Day (shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize), and the translator of more than ten books from Chinese, including novels by Zhang Yueran, Chan Ho-Kei, Yeng Pway Ngon and Tianxia Bachang. He has been awarded an NEA Literary Translation Fellowship, a Henry Luce Foundation Fellowship, and the People’s Literature Prize Mao-Tai Cup for Translation. Jeremy also writes and translates plays. He lives in Brooklyn.

“I arrived in Beijing for the M Residency after having put aside my creative work for the better half of a year to contend with life’s other demands. The residency allowed me the time to confront difficult revisions and continue correspondences with editors. I was grateful for the stretch of days devoted to writing without distraction and the afternoons spent in research at the Anton Library of Chinese Studies. A new atmosphere and a different schedule can change the way you work, and I appreciated having time for discovery as I found my way to surprising new work. I also enjoyed getting lost in the city, reconnecting with places I used to know, and noting the changes both in the urban landscape and in my own life. I left the residency with not only new drafts but also a renewed habit of keeping the work central.”