Katie Goes to KL

A coming-of-age tale of love and cultural reconnection set in modern-day Kuala Lumpur KATIE CHEN, 16, lives in the unremarkable suburb of Narre Warren in Australia with her somewhat reclusive Malaysian father. Coming to Australia when she was 5 and losing her mother at 7, she has always struggled with issues of identity. One day, she goes back to Malaysia for her grandmother’ s funeral and discovers that her mother – long-thought-dead – is alive. Set in a fictionalised Kuala Lumpur (KL), Katie struggles to reconnect with her mother whom she discovers is Malay. Navigating KL’ s underground music scene and the underlying tensions of a country she doesn’ t understand, how far is Katie willing to go to find a place to belong?

Su-May Tan was born and raised in Malaysia but is currently living on Wurundjeri land in Melbourne. Her debut short story collection Lake Malibu and other stories was shortlisted for the Queensland Literary Awards 2022. Her work has appeared in the Margaret River Short Story Competition, Mascara Literary Review and The Victorian Writer. Having moved to Melbourne in 2012, she often writes on themes of migration and cultural connection. Website: sumaytan.com.