Angry Yellow Woman is the debut poetry collection from Vera Chok. Is Vera a woman, though? And how yellow are they? The anger is real. These playful, searching, and violently sexy pieces expose Vera's immigrant-hobo journey through the landscapes, beds, and bodies of the UK and beyond. They were scratched out to understand an alien identity. They’re a record of how - and where - Vera has tried to locate safety and joy. At the ends of the earth, or down Bethnal Green station? It might be a coming-of-age tale, but this Colonised body seems stuck dreaming of the Empire - flat nose pressed up against the window of Tesco, Chinese eyes wide, hungry. Mouth sighing Malay.
Angry Yellow Woman by Vera Chok
Vera (they/she) is a queer Malaysian-Chinese actor, funny-person, poet and dogmum. They are both Disruptor and Homemaker. Best known as a co-author of The Good Immigrant, Vera wrote the chapter, Yellow, which exploded ideas around “East Asianness”. Vera has been published by The Guardian, Bloomsbury, and Brain Mill Press, and in Rising and Transect magazine. They have been commissioned by The Roundhouse, CNN, WeTransfer, and Hakkasan Group, and funded by The British Council. Their writing has been performed at The Roundhouse, Shakespeare North, Rich Mix, and at Byline, Stoke Newington, Dinefwr, Cambridge, and Bare Lit Festivals. Vera is also a regular participant and sometimes champion of Varjack & Simpson’s Anti-Slam. Vera co-founded The Brautigan Book Club, was a resident artist at the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, and the actor who played Honour Chen-Williams, head of the first ever East Asian family in any UK continuing drama. They produce both gently joyful happenings and mischievous, chaotic celebrations to platform historically marginalised groups.