(w)Asian is a poem I wrote and submitted in 2022 for the Ros Spencer Poetry Contest Anthology. It was subsequently published in the Brushstrokes III Poetry Anthology, which is available for purchase on the WA Poets official website.

This was one of the 87 poems out of 277 submitted to the competition that was published in the anthology. It was written at a time in my life when I was struggling with the anti-Asian sentiment that was running rampant during the pandemic, and the struggle to find my identity growing up half-Asian and half-Scottish.

I want to use poetry as a platform to encapsulate the unique experience of growing up half-Asian, especially in Australia. It’s a country that is often touted as a multicultural cooking pot and accepting, but in reality, it is struggling with racism.

(w)Asian was one of my first published poetry and a massive step in achieving my goals for writing. The (w)Asian poem is available to read free below. It can be read line-by-line or by verse.