Brenda Frazer, China Journal, 1998 (Digital Book)

In this intimate journal entry, Brenda Frazer captures a journey through Beijing with her sister. The two sisters navigate the dense, shifting streets, seeking moments of authenticity amongst the performance of tourism and imperial histories. With vulnerability, and at times humour, she builds a portrait of sibling companionship, sharing curiosity and quiet realisations exploring hidden streets and temples.

Brenda Frazer published her first book, Troia, in 1966, later reissued in 2007 by Dalkey Archive (now Deep Vellum). Her work has also been featured in The Portable Beat Reader (edited by Ann Charters), A Different Beat (edited by Richard Peabody), and in influential periodicals of the 1950s and ’60s, including Fuck You: A Magazine of the Arts and Blue Beat. She was married to poet Ray Bremser, and during the late 1950s and ’60s lived in New York City, later moving in 1970 to Cherry Valley, New York, where she joined The Committe (a communal residence established by Allen Ginsberg for poets, writers, and artists). Her memoir, recounting the years 1959-1983, My True Stories, was published in 2023.