•Explores Isan identity from a new angle.

•First study of regionalism and identity in modern Thai literature.

•First work published in English tracing the recent literary history of Thailand.

•Highly relevant to scholars working on Asian literature elsewhere.

Regional characteristics and regional language feature prominently in discussions of Thai identity but there is little mention of regional literatures. In this ground-breaking work, the author explores regional origins and sensibilities in the national literature of Thailand with a study of writers from the country’s northeastern Isan region and the modern literature they produce. Although these authors write primarily in Thai, it is nonetheless possible to identify an Isan strand in the national literature. Here, Martin Platt focuses on the second half of the 20th century, when Isan writers and their work attained the highest levels of literary and cultural achievement. It was also a time when, while grappling with how their origins and experiences related to the Thai centre, they played a significant and at times pivotal role in the development of modern Thai literature.

As well as being the first work published in English tracing the recent literary history of Thailand, Martin Platt’s account of Isan literature opens the way for a further investigation of the regional dimension in modern Thai literature. In addition, it offers insights and an analytical model that scholars examining literary works in other Asian countries will find of great relevance.

Critical Acclaim: ‘Northeast Thailand has a rich and turbulent history, as reflected in its wealth of literary traditions. This book on Northeast Thai literature, both insightful and pioneering, provides an in-depth look at a world that has thus far been invisible in modern western scholarship.’ – Peter Koret (biographer of Narin Phasit)

‘[A] most informative and perceptive piece of writing on modern Thai literature.’ – David Smyth