MEDIACOM-RELEASE-FICTIONLAND NEW NOVEL EXPLORES PASSION AND PERVERSITY IN TOKYO'S HOSTESS BARS, IN `MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA'
MEETS `BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER STYLE.'
Whakatane publisher, FictionLand has just released the first novel by Whakatane writer Ann-Marie Houng Lee, whose
collection of short stories appeared in 1998. `Vena Cava' is the story of two ex- pat women working in the hostess bars
in Toyko. Readers who enjoyed `Memoirs of a Geisha' should consider this seedy, contemporary version of Japan's hostess
trade with added East meets West frission of two foreign women dealing with their own emotions and clash of cultures.
Houng Lee, who worked in Tokyo as a journalist for some years, has avoided the ornate, gentile lens though which many
Western writers have viewed Japanese culture, to provide a gritty perspective on itinerant ex-pat life in Tokyo in the
late 20th century. The publication of Vena Cava follows the release of Houng Lee's `butterfly kiss' a short story
collection in 1998. Reveiws of "butterfly kiss' described it "quirky and entertaining..." Iain Sharpe Sunday Star Times.
"These stories are thoughtfully written with a deep exploration of language to carry them along...they have a darkness
to them, an earthy sexuality while still retaining a sense of humour and a sense of the absurd." Rachel King, Pavement
Houng Lee says that after her experience with `butterfly kiss' she chose to continue to publish her work herself under
her FictionLand imprint despite interest from a number of publishers.
Houng Lee is a graduate of Owen Marshall's fiction writing course at Aoraki Polytechnic and has had stories published in
Sport, and Metro and Pulp Faction (London) and broadcast on Radio New Zealand.
"Vena Cava' and `butterfly kiss' are available from FictionLand, PO box 2154, Whakatane.
ENDS....
MEDIA RELEASE FROM FICTIONLAND