Quan's cheery admission deserves a qualifier: Six Positions, a collection of
short stories, is somewhat different from standard literary fare.
Billed as "sex writing", the work blends fact and fantasy in exploring all
manner of bodily pleasures. Its subject matter includes gay orgies, sexed-up
surfers and fisting but, Quan insists, there is more to Six Positions than
titillation.
"I think there's some sex appeal about this book that people will be interested
in," Quan says.
"But I think that just by the nature of the stories that there's lots in there
that goes beyond that. I'm confident in readers that they'll find different
things."
Six Positions also ponders the ideas of community and cultural identity that
Quan explored in earlier works such as Calendar Boy and Slant.
"I've always felt as a writer that to simply tell my story and to have Asian
characters and to speak as an Asian man is something that will make a
difference to gay culture," Quan says.
Yet shifting perceptions of race are not the only changes he is keen to
document.
Resident in Sydney for the past six years, Quan has perceived evolving
attitudes to sex, a theme that informs his latest work.
"I certainly think there are some wild and out-there Canadians but I think
Sydney's got an amazing culture in terms of sex and gay sex and sexuality,"
Quan says.
"Some people here have an amazing confidence and freedom about themselves that
I admire and that has certainly inspired some of the writing here."
By
Ian Gould
