Jemimah Wei
1. THE DISPATCHAssassination
Here’s a fun fact. The Chinese believe the eyeballs of fish to be delicacies, and to be offered one when there are only two! in the whole fish! is considered a great honor. Nobody under sixty gets offered the fish eyeball, ever ever ever, unless he is the favorite grandson, in which case, it happens all the time. Either the favoritism will manifest blatantly, or it’ll be hidden under a thin veneer of concern: Eat the eyeball and you’ll do well in your exams (Mother); Where else will you get such rich unsaturated fatty acids, DHA, EPA, Vitamin A, don’t be wasteful, don’t be daft (Father); and pop! goes the eyeball (Brother, so satisfied.). And you, why do you need the umami flavor dancing across your tongue, why do you lust after a secret that you will later have to hide in the roof of your mouth and brush and floss and gargle out, in hopes of a kiss behind the garage? You are already in America, and unlike your family, who you understand are older and stuck in their ways, you know to update your desires. You know if anyone in school hears about you holding the eyeball under your tongue, savoring the gooey layer, the crisp wafer of the center, you will never be spoken to again. Still, you want. And you do not interrogate this want. Many years later, after you’ve moved cities again and again, you will finally admit to it, but in a calculated manner, in a cool, disaffected tone. God, you will say, I know it sounds so crazy, but it was a big deal, okay? And when your new friends, all shiny and glamorous and coiffed, burst into laughter, join them. Don’t look back.
2. BUREAU INVENTORYA pot of cheap black coffee
750ml water bottle
Monthly calendar, illustrated by my partner, featuring scenes from our life together. We’ve been in a long-distance relationship ever since I moved to New York to pursue writing.
Three printed and bound manuscripts — all of which are first or second drafts. I need them next to me, physically, as I work on revisions on my computer.
A handwritten notecard with time zones, time differences, and whether there are specific weather related shifts (eg. Daylight Savings Time) for all geographical locations featured in anything I’m working on.
Lip balm.
Gua Sha tool — I grind my jaw when writing or editing, and if I don’t intermittently release the tension with a tool or with my knuckles, I’ll get a bad migraine.
Whatever novel I’m currently trying to steal from.
A post-it with the total amount of money I’ve invested into writing — MFA bills, cost of moving, rental, living expenses, expenses attached to the publishing attachments I’ve done previously. I worked for years before being able to finance a writer’s life; I’m constantly aware of how much it cost me, and how much it means to me.
Various artificial light sources to make up for the fact that I get no natural light in my room whatsoever.
3. BIOGRAPHYJemimah Wei is a writer and host based in Singapore and New York. She has written for the screen and stage, but now primarily writes fiction. Jemimah was recently named a 2020 Felipe P. De Alba Fellow at Columbia University, a 2021 Standiford Fiction Fellow, and is a Francine Ringold Award for New Writers honouree. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net anthologies, received support from Singapore’s National Arts Council, and appeared in Narrative, Nimrod, and CRAFT Literary, amongst others. Presently a columnist for No Contact Magazine, she is at work on a novel and three story collections. Say hi at @jemmawei on socials.