*Special thanks: The writer wishes to acknowledge Wilson Khor, founder of Working Desk Publishing, for his generous assistance and for contributing the photographs used in this article.
SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 2013 and 2015, Penang’s literary scene shifted. Not with a bang, but with a handful of stapled booklets, scrappy covers and stories that felt real in a way mainstream publishing rarely does. This was the beginning of Penang’s English literary zine culture—a small, messy, intimate scene that would eventually claim its own place on the national map.
At the heart of it is Wilson Khor Woo Han. This was long before Working Desk Publishing (WD) became official. Back in 2013, it was just Wilson boothing at Hin Market at Hin Bus Depot. There was no fancy display and no team. It was just him sitting at a table with a stack of zines and a lot of heart. WD wasn’t officially registered until 2018, but the seeds were already being planted. Around the same time, MYWriters Penang was gathering steam, and with it came NutMag, a community-driven anthology that quickly became a space for writers to test their voice without needing permission from a publisher.[1]
